[00:00:02]
ALL RIGHT.AND SO I WILL CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER
[CALL TO ORDER]
AT 6 0 7, AND I AM DIANA WHEELER, CO-CHAIR, AND I AM, UM, UH, I'M, I'M THE ONE IN PERSON.WELL, KABA IS AT HOME NOT GETTING US SICK.
AND FIRST UP, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
FIRST UP, I THINK WE HAVE SOME CITIZEN SPEAKERS.
HELLO, MEMBERS OF THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE.
I'M REQUESTING THAT THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO CLOSE ZILKER PARK'S POLO FIELD FOR OVERFLOW PARKING ON SUMMER WEEKENDS.
UM, THAT IS THE, NOT THE CORRECT SLIDE.
DAVID, PLEASE, UH, SWITCH TO THE OTHER SET.
UM, IT IS A PRACTICE WHICH APPEARS TO HAVE FINALLY DESTROYED THIS PARKLAND.
ITS USE AS A CAR PARKING LOT HAS PROVEN UNSUSTAINABLE.
THIS CAR PARKING USAGE IS CONTRARY TO CLIMATE GOALS BY DESTROYING PARK VEGETATION PRODUCES DANGEROUS AMOUNTS OF DUST, AND IS COMPACTING SOILS LOCATED OVER SENSITIVE AQUIFERS.
THAT'S A MAP WITH THE LOCATION OF THE POLO FIELD.
THIS IS THE PARKING ON IT IN THE SUMMER.
THE PARKS BOARD RECENTLY VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO ELIMINATE PARKING ON THE POLO FIELD PERMANENTLY, STARTING ON SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2023, EXCEPT FOR USE AS AN OVERFLOW PARKING AREA DURING ADVANCED SCHEDULED SPECIAL EVENTS.
CONTINUE WITH THE SLIDES, THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION HAS PASSED A RECOMMENDATION, VOTED NINE IN FAVOR TO BAN PARKING ON THE POLO FIELD IN FISCAL YEAR 2025.
I BELIEVE THAT THOSE TWO RECOMMENDATIONS WILL PROVIDE ALL OF THE BACKGROUND INFORMATION THAT YOU NEED.
AND YOU HAVE THE LINKS IN YOUR EMAIL FROM ME.
IT IS CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR PARKING EXCEPT FOR SPECIAL EVENTS, AND THERE WILL BE NO SUMMER HILLSIDE MUSICAL IN THE PARK NEXT YEAR.
SO IT SEEMS TO ME TO BE AN IDEAL TIME TO CLOSE THE POLO FIELD RIGHT NOW AS THE PARKS BOARD RECOMMENDED.
I HAVE PHOTOS THAT SHOW THE STATE OF DESTRUCTION OF THE POLO FIELD AFTER THIS PAST SUMMER, A SEASON OF HIGH HEAT AND EXTENDED DROUGHT.
I HOPE THAT THESE PHOTOS WILL CONVINCE YOU TO JOIN THE PARKS BOARD AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION TO RECOMMEND THE CLOSURE OF THIS AREA FOR OVERFLOW PARKING AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
AND THEY'RE THE PICTURES, YOU SEE THAT THERE'S, UH, NO MORE ROOT STRUCTURE LEFT.
IT'S LOOSE SOIL, EXPOSED ROCK VIEW OF DOWNTOWN, MORE DEEP, LOOSE SOIL.
IT'S, IT'S FLOWING DOWN THE HILLS.
YOU CAN GO TO THE, THE ROADWAYS IN THE PARK AND SEE THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SUMMER.
I'M SORRY, MY PICTURES ARE OUT OF ORDER.
AND THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE NOW.
THERE'S NO MORE GRASS, HARDLY ANY.
I REPORTED THE DUST AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD TO THE TCEQ THIS SUMMER, AND THAT'S ABOUT IT.
I THINK WE'RE CYCLING TO THE BEGINNING, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
CAN I ASK, YOU SAID THE PARKS BOARD, 100% VOTED TO RECOMMEND THE ELIMINATED ELIMINATE PARKING BY, YOU SAID SEPTEMBER, 2024? NO, 23.
I MIGHT HAVE, UM, SAID THE WRONG THING, BUT NO.
BY 23, NO, I THINK I MISSED HER.
SO THE PARKS BOARD SAID THAT IT SHOULD ALREADY BE ELIMINATED AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION VOTED NINE IN FAVOR TO, UH, FULLY ELIMINATE BY FY 2025, WHICH IS OCTOBER, 2024.
IF YOU HAD ANY MORE QUESTIONS, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM IF I HAD A LITTLE MORE TIME.
IT IS A, A QUESTION OF WHETHER YOU CALL IT OVERFLOW USE OR SPECIAL EVENT USE.
THERE'S STILL THINGS LIKE, UH, WE HAVEN'T RESOLVED.
PERHAPS TRAIL OF LIGHTS WILL STILL BE PARKING ON IT, BUT AT SOME POINT IT HAS TO BE RESTORED, RESTORED BACK TO VEGETATION.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION RECOMMENDED THAT THERE BE SOIL AND, UH, VEGETATIVE SEEDLING MATERIAL SEEDS TO PUT IN BY 2025.
[00:05:01]
UM, SO AT SOME POINT IT'S GONNA HAVE TO BECOME A NATURAL SURFACE AGAIN AND NOT USE FOR ANY CAR PARKING.BUT THE QUESTION IS TWO LEVELS OF PARKING, WHETHER IT'S, UH, FOR OVERFLOW SUMMER VISITORS, OR FOR SPECIAL EVENTS PARKING.
AND A AGAIN, THOSE DETAILS ARE IN THE TWO RESOLUTIONS, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE PASSED IN YOUR EMAIL.
AND KABA, DID YOU WANNA ASK HER A QUESTION? ALRIGHT, WELL, I THINK SHE MAYBE JUST ANSWERED IT.
ARE YOU SAYING THAT YOU EMAILED THE RESOLUTION LANGUAGE TO US ALL? YES.
YOU, I SENT AN EMAIL, I BELIEVE TO EVERYONE TODAY.
THAT IS, UM, MY SPEECH TODAY WITH THE LINKS IN IT FOR THOSE TWO RECOMMENDATIONS.
WELL, THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS TO OUR ATTENTION.
I, I DO THINK IT'S RELEVANT TO OUR CHARGE AND, UH, I THINK WE CAN'T BE SEQUESTERING CARBON IN AN AREA THAT IS NOT EVEN ABLE TO MAINTAIN ITS SOIL.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, AND PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED THAT EMAIL, I REALLY WANT YOU TO HAVE IT.
I'M A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT 10.
I'M A DAILY BARTON SPRING SWIMMER AND A USER OF ZILKER PARK.
THIS IS LOOKING AT BARTON CREEK, AND YOU CAN SEE THE, THE LINES OF VEGETATION GROWING IN THE WATER.
IT GROWS LIKE THAT, ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE COLORADO RIVER.
UH, I'M ASKING YOU THE SUSTAINABILITY COMMISSION TO PLEASE CONTRACT WITH A NEUTRAL INDEPENDENT SCIENTIST TO STUDY AND REPORT TO YOU AND THE CITIZENS OF AUSTIN ON THE CURRENT USE OF THE GREAT LAWN AND THE WATER DRAINAGE INTO BARTON CREEK AND THE COLORADO RIVER.
I'M NOT A SCIENTIST, BUT I HAVE OBSERVED THAT THE FERTILIZED LAWN WATER, WHEN IT RAINS, IS BEING RUN OFF INTO BARTON CREEK VIA BIG CONCRETE PIPES AND ALSO TEMPORARY RAIN GUTTERS.
UM, THIS IS THE FLOODED PARK TODAY.
UM, THIS IS WHERE THE WATER FLOWS THROUGH THOSE CONCRETE, UH, PATHS.
AND THEY'RE GOING, IT'S GOING STRAIGHT INTO BARTON CREEK AND THUS INTO THE COLORADO.
I HAVE A SAMPLE OF THE WATER IN A JAR.
I TOOK IT THIS AFTERNOON IN CASE ANYBODY HERE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE IT AND TEST IT.
ANY QUESTIONS? SORRY? ANY QUESTIONS? NO, CHRIS.
I AM, UM, I REALIZE I MOMENTARILY LOST THE AGENDA.
I THINK NEXT UP WOULD BE VOTING ON THE MINUTES.
[9. Approval of minutes from the September 27th meeting of the Joint Sustainability Committee.]
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S NUMBER NINE, BUT WE CAN DO IT.THOUGH, WE, WE DO HAVE, WE, WE, I THINK WE HAVE ALL THE MEMBERS HERE THAT WE'RE GOING TO GET.
SO IF PEOPLE DON'T MIND IF I GO A LITTLE BIT OUT OF ORDER AND WE, UH, WE VOTE ON THE MINUTES FROM LAST MONTH.
IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION, MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.
ALL IN FAVOR? PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY, AYE, I THINK I CAN SEE EVERYBODY.
THEN AT PASSES, THE MINUTES FROM LAST MONTH ARE APPROVED.
NOW I FINALLY GOT THE AGENDA IN FRONT OF ME.
SO I BELIEVE THAT FIRST UP IS THE, UH, SUSTAINABLE PURCHASING BEST PRACTICES.
[00:10:01]
WE'VE GOT A REQUEST, UH, FOR, UM, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY TO GO FIRST.LET'S DO IT THEN, UH, HERE TODAY TO RESPECT THE, THE CONSULTANT TIME.
OFFICER RESOURCE FOR RECOVERY.
[2. Austin Resource Recovery Zero Waste Comprehensive Plan Update.]
LOVE TO HAVE YOU GO FIRST, KNOW HOW TO CONTROL THE, I THINK YOU JUST NEED TO LET DAVID KNOW WHEN TO ADVANCE THE SLIDES.DO YOU WANT TO USE THIS? GOOD, BUT THANKS.
SO, UH, I'M, UH, JASON MCCOMBS.
I'M WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY.
AND, UH, TONIGHT I'M PROUD TO PRESENT OUR, UH, 20 23 0 WASTE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
UM, CAN WE TRY TO FORWARD THE SLIDES? CAN WE GO? AND, UH, SO I'M JASON MCCOMBS.
I'M HERE WITH SCOTT, PASTOR N HE IS WITH BURNS MCDONALD, A CONSULTANT THAT WORKED WITH US ON THIS.
AND, UH, GET ONE MORE, ONE MORE.
SO, UM, IN 2011, UH, AUSTIN PASSED ITS FIRST ZERO WASTE MASTER PLAN.
AND THAT, UH, PLAN HAD A GOAL TO REACH 90% LANDFILL DIVERSION BY THE YEAR 2040.
AND IT WAS REALLY FOCUSED ON ONE, INTRODUCING ZERO WASTE TO THE COMMUNITY, BUT, UH, ALSO ACCESS TO SERVICES, BRINGING COMPOSTING, RECYCLING, UM, YOU KNOW, TO, TO RESTAURANTS, UH, AND MULTIFAMILY PROPERTIES, FOR EXAMPLE, ALL ACROSS AUSTIN.
AND, UH, THE, THIS PLAN THAT WE HAVE BEFORE YOU TODAY IS AN UPDATE TO THAT 2011 PLAN.
UM, AND IT'S A ROADMAP THAT IS INTENDED TO GUIDE OUR DEPARTMENT AND OUR CITY, UH, FUTURE OPERATIONAL CHANGES, POLICY CHANGES, AND, UH, AND, YOU KNOW, ASSOCIATE PUBLIC STOCK SHELTER MEETINGS.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, ACCOMPLISHED A LOT.
WE REACHED A MAJORITY OF GOALS IN THAT PLAN.
UM, AND THE CONTRACT FOR THIS WAS, UH, AWARDED IN 2019.
AND WE STARTED WRITING, DRAFTING THIS RIGHT AT THE START OF THE PANDEMIC IN 2020.
AND SO MUCH OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS STARTED IN 2020.
UM, WE WORKED CLOSELY WITH OUR PARTNER HERE IN BURNS MCDONALD, UH, 20 20, 20 21.
WE DID MULTIPLE PHASES OF OUTREACH AND DRAFTING OF THE PLAN WERE CONDUCTED.
UM, WE'LL HAVE, UH, SCOTT GO INTO THAT A LITTLE MORE DETAIL HERE, BUT THERE WERE, THERE WAS, UH, SIGNIFICANT OUTREACH, UM, DONE DURING THAT TIME.
UM, AND THEN THIS LAST SPRING, UM, WE MET WITH MEMBERS OF ZAC AND THE COMMUNITY.
UM, AND SINCE THEN, WE HAVE, UM, GONE TO ZAC, UM, EARLIER THIS MONTH WHERE, UM, IT WAS JUST VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO RECOMMEND FOR APPROVAL TO COUNCIL.
WE'VE ALSO MET WITH, UH, COUNCIL OFFICES, UM, AND HAD THEM REVIEW THIS AS WELL.
AND, UM, IT'S BEEN VERY FAVORABLY SO FAR.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH THIS HAS BEEN A LONG PROCESS, UM, I SAID WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS.
IT REALLY HASN'T STOPPED OUR PROGRESS AS A DEPARTMENT.
WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED A LOT IN THAT TIME, AND WE WERE A LEADER IN THE STORM RESPONSE.
UM, WE HAD MULTIFAMILY COMPOSTING, WHICH WILL PROVIDE ACCESS TO, UM, UH, COMPOSTING FOR ALL MULTIFAMILY PROPERTIES ACROSS AUSTIN.
JUST RECENTLY PASSED A FEW WEEKS AGO WITH COUNCIL.
AND, UH, WE ALSO JUST RECENTLY RECEIVED A $4 MILLION EPA GRANT FOR A REUSE WAREHOUSE HERE IN AUSTIN THAT WE'LL START BY FOCUSING ON, UH, REFURBISHING FURNITURE, UM, HERE, UM, IN THE COMMUNITY AND KEEPING OUT OF THE LANDFILL.
AND SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA HAND IT OVER TO SCOTT PASTOR NECK, AND HE'S GONNA GO INTO A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE PLAN AND THE PROCESS.
BEFORE I, UH, GET TOO MUCH INTO THE DETAILS, ACTUALLY, DAVID, IF YOU COULD KEEP IT ON, ON THAT ONE SLIDE.
THE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN, GETTING THAT GRANT, UH, WAS A VERY SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENT.
THERE WERE ONLY, I THINK IT WAS 25 COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES THAT RECEIVED THOSE, THOSE GRANTS OUT OF APPROXIMATELY 300 APPLICATIONS.
SO JUST WANTED TO, TO POINT THAT OUT TO THE GREAT WORK THAT, UH, ARR CONTINUES TO DO FOR THE COMMUNITY.
AND, AND SPEAKING OF THAT, UM, I REALLY WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT THESE ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN, UH, PUT IN PLACE SINCE 2011 ARE, ARE REALLY, UH, VERY MEANINGFUL AND, AND SIGNIFICANT BURNS OF MCDONALD PROVIDES, UH, SOLID WASTE RESOURCE RECOVERY AND ZERO WASTE CONSULTING SERVICES TO CITIES ALL ACROSS TEXAS AND, AND THE UNITED STATES.
AND SO TO HAVE A COMMUNITY THAT'S BEEN ABLE TO, UH, IMPLEMENT THESE TYPES OF PROGRAMS OVER
[00:15:01]
THE LAST ROUGHLY 10 YEARS IS, IS PRETTY SIGNIFICANT.IN FACT, UM, OF THE CITIES THAT, THAT WE WORK WITH IN, IN TEXAS, A FEW OF THEM MAY HAVE DONE ONE OF THESE ITEMS THAT, THAT IS LISTED HERE AS THESE ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
BUT THERE'S NO OTHER CITY IN TEXAS THAT HAS IMPLEMENTED ALL THREE OF THESE, AND THAT'S A REAL CREDIT TO THE PERSEVERANCE, UM, BY OUR ARR, UH, IN THE ENTIRE, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN COMMUNITY.
UM, SO WHAT, WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO NOW ON THE, ON THE NEXT SLIDE IS, IS TO WALK YOU THROUGH THE, THE PLANNING PROCESS.
JASON GAVE YOU A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF THAT, BUT THEN ON THE NEXT SLIDE, IT'LL GIVE YOU A SENSE OF, UH, THE WORK THAT, THAT WE'VE DONE, UH, IN COLLABORATION WITH, WITH ARR.
AND THEN I'LL, AFTER I WALK THROUGH THIS SLIDE, I'LL COMMUNICATE SOME OF THE MORE DETAILS, UH, ABOUT THIS WITH YOU ALL.
BUT IT, IT STARTED WITH, UH, HERE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE, UH, RESEARCH AND, AND ANALYSIS, UH, WHERE WE DID BENCHMARKING THAT I'LL, I'LL SHOW YOU IN, IN A FEW MINUTES, UH, THAT FOCUSED ON HOW DOES AUSTIN COMPARE TO SEVERAL OTHER ZERO WASTE COMMUNITIES FROM ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
AND THEN THERE WERE A NUMBER OF RESEARCH, UH, AND ANALYSIS TOPICS THAT WE'LL ALSO GET INTO WITH YOU THIS, THIS EVENING AS WELL.
AND THEN FROM THERE, UH, WE EVALUATED, UH, MULTIPLE STRATEGIES AND, AND OPTIONS, UH, CONDUCTED A NUMBER OF, OF WORKSHOPS WITH CITY STAFF, UH, TO THEN ULTIMATELY DETERMINE WHAT WOULD BE THE, THE PRIORITY TOPICS TO BE ADDRESSED, UH, IN THIS ITERATION OF, UH, THE CITY'S PLAN.
AND SO IT WAS A VERY COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN ARR AND, AND BURNSON MCDONALD TO PRODUCE THE, THE PLAN THAT JASON REFERRED TO, UH, THROUGHOUT THE, THE COURSE OF, OF THE PROJECT, THERE WAS EXTENSIVE CITY AND STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT.
UH, AS JASON MENTIONED, WE STARTED THIS PROJECT IN 2019.
WE HAD THIS GREAT, UH, ROBUST, UH, VERY, VERY MUCH GOING OUT INTO THE PUBLIC TO INTERACT WITH PEOPLE, UH, IN THE SPACES WHERE THEY WOULD TYPICALLY, UH, CONGREGATE TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT ZERO WASTE.
UH, BUT THEN COVID HAPPENED, AND SO WE, UH, WERE ABLE TO MAKE A, A NUMBER OF CHANGES TO STILL HAVE VERY MEANINGFUL, UH, STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT JUST A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE ORIGINALLY HAD TO PLANNED FOR.
AND WE'LL COMMUNICATE WHAT SOME OF THAT INVOLVED, UH, IN A FEW MINUTES AS WELL.
SO, GOING ON ONTO THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, IN TERMS OF THE BENCHMARKING THAT WAS COMPLETED.
UM, AND ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, AS I SAID A FEW MINUTES AGO, WE DID BENCHMARK 13 CITIES, UH, TO GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW ARE THEY DEFINING, UH, UH, ZERO WASTE.
WHAT ARE THE PROGRAMS THAT THEY, THEY HAVE IN PLACE, UH, AS WELL AS, UH, SOME OF THE KEY POLICY ISSUES.
AND SO THIS INFORMATION WAS VERY BENEFICIAL IN TERMS OF HELPING TO INFORM KEY CONTENT FOR, UH, THE CON FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
SO THIS NEXT SLIDE GIVES YOU A SENSE OF, UH, WHO THE CITIES ARE THAT WERE INCLUDED AS A PART OF THE, THE BENCHMARKING.
UH, SO IF WE COULD GO TO THAT, THAT NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO THERE WERE, UH, MANY COMMUNITIES ON, ON THE WEST COAST IN, IN CALIFORNIA AS, AS WELL AS IN, IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF OTHER CITIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
AND SO, UM, NOT EVERY CITY PUBLISHES THEIR DATA ON AN ANNUAL BASIS.
SO WE, WE, UH, COMMUNICATED NOT ONLY, UH, WHEN THEY ADOPTED THEIR, THEIR ZERO WASTE PLAN PLANNING VISION, UH, BUT ALSO WHEN DID THEY MOST RECENTLY PUBLISH WHAT THEIR RECYCLING RATE IS.
AND THEN WE ALSO, UH, COMMUNICATED WHAT ARE THE WASTE GENERATORS, UH, THAT WERE INCLUDED AS A PART OF THAT.
AND SO ONE OF THE INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS, UH, FROM THAT IS, UH, ALL OF THE CITIES INCLUDE SINGLE FAMILY, BUT THE ONES, UH, THAT HAVE THE HIGHEST RECYCLING RATES ALSO, UH, WILL INCLUDE OTHER CATEGORIES LIKE COMMERCIAL, MULTIFAMILY AND, AND COMMERCIAL AND, AND DEMOLITION MATERIALS.
AND I THINK OUR, OUR KEY TAKEAWAY, AND I THINK THIS IS REALLY CONSISTENT WITH WHAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS DOING, IS THAT YOU WANNA BE ABLE TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IT'S RECYCLING, UH, OR REUSE, WHATEVER IT MAY BE, UH, NOT ONLY IN PEOPLE'S HOMES, WHETHER IT'S A SINGLE FAMILY OR MULTIFAMILY, BUT THEN ALSO WHEN THEY GO TO WORK OR WHEN THEY GO OUT TO, TO DO SOMETHING IN THE COMMUNITY, TO HAVE AS CONSISTENT OF A PROGRAM AS AS POSSIBLE, UH, IS WHAT WE SAW FROM MANY OF THOSE OTHER, UH, HIGH PERFORMING COMMUNITIES.
AND THAT'S, I THINK, UH, A REALLY IMPORTANT, UH, ASPECT OF WHAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS DOING AS, AS WELL.
SO THE, THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, GIVES SOME OF THE ADDITIONAL BENCHMARKING RESULTS.
UM, SO OF THE 13, UH, CITIES, AUSTIN IS, IS THE HIGHEST, UH, CITY THAT'S NOT ON THE WEST COAST.
UM, AND I, AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT, UH, FOR TWO REASONS.
THOSE, THOSE WEST COAST CITIES HAVE
[00:20:01]
BEEN AT THIS, UH, IN TERMS OF HAVING A FORMAL ZERO WASTE POLICY FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME, UH, THAN AUSTIN.AND THEN, UH, THEY ALSO, ESPECIALLY IN CALIFORNIA, HAVE VERY SUBSTANTIAL STATE MANDATES THAT WE DO NOT HAVE HERE IN, IN TEXAS.
UM, AND, AND THOSE COMMUNITIES WILL ALSO, IN ADDITION TO HAVING STATEWIDE MANDATES, MAY PUT IN PLACE MANDATES AT THE MUNICIPAL LEVEL AND OR HAVE, UH, ENFORCEMENT PROGRAMS AND OR, UM, MATERIAL BANS ON, ON CERTAIN TYPES OF, OF, OF MATERIALS.
ONE OF THE CHALLENGES THAT, THAT AUSTIN HAS, UH, IS VERY CONSISTENT WITHIN THE OTHER CITIES.
AND THAT'S BEING ABLE TO, UH, CLEARLY TRACK HOW MUCH MATERIAL IS BEING RECYCLED WITHIN THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR.
UH, SO THAT'S, UH, CONTINUES TO BE A, A CHALLENGE FOR MANY COMMUNITIES.
AND THEN, UM, HOW AUSTIN IS, IS FRAMING ZERO WASTE AS, AS A VISION, UH, TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUALLY BE SOUGHT AFTER, UH, AND ASPIRED TO IS, IS DEFINITELY CONSISTENT WITH MANY OF THE OTHER CITIES AS AS WELL.
SO THE NEXT NEXT SLIDE GETS INTO SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, FOR THE BENCHMARKING.
AND THIS WAS REALLY IMPORTANT, UH, FOR, AGAIN, INFORMING, UH, KEY PARTS OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN.
AND WHAT, WHAT WE'VE FOUND, UM, IS THAT WHILE MANY OF THE CITIES ARE STILL CONTINUING TO COMMUNICATE AN, AN OVERALL RECYCLING RATE, UH, AS A KEY METRIC, UH, TO, TO MEASURE PROGRESS, THEY'RE ALSO LOOKING AT OTHER WAYS TO, TO MEASURE PROGRESS, UH, SUCH AS, UH, PER CAPITA, UH, DISPOSAL RATES, UH, WHICH IS WHERE YOU CALCULATE, UH, HOW MUCH EACH, EACH PERSON IS, IS GENERATING AND, AND HOW MUCH OF THAT IS GOING TO A LANDFILL VERSUS, UH, HOPEFULLY BEING DISPOSED, UH, OR EXCUSE ME, HOPEFULLY BEING RECYCLED.
UH, BUT THEN IF YOU ALSO LOOK AT A, UH, PER CAPITA DISPOSAL RATE, YOU'RE ALSO ABLE TO ESTIMATE HOW MUCH MATERIAL IS, IS NEVER BEING GENERATED IN THE FIRST PLACE, IS, WHICH IS REALLY WHERE YOU WANT TO BE FROM A, A REUSE, UH, TYPE OF PERSPECTIVE IN PREVENTING WASTE, UH, IN THE FIRST PLACE.
UM, THERE'S ALSO A, A NEED TO EVALUATE OPTIONS, UH, TO GET DATA FROM, FROM HAULERS.
AND THEN, UH, THE CITY HAS, UM, UNDER A SEPARATE PROJECT CARRIED OUT WASTE CHARACTERIZATION EFFORTS.
AND THEY ARE, UH, DOING THAT BY, UH, COLLECTING DATA AND EVALUATING THAT FROM A CAPTURE RATE PERSPECTIVE.
WE'LL SHOW IN IN THE NEXT COUPLE SLIDES, UM, HOW WE'RE DEFINING THAT TERM CAPTURE RATE IN, IN MORE DETAIL.
AND THEN, UM, REALLY STARTING TO, TO GET INTO MORE DETAIL IN TERMS OF WHAT THE CONTENTS ARE OF, OF RESIDENTIAL SET OUTS, BOTH FOR, FOR TRASH AND RECYCLING.
AGAIN, AS A PART OF THAT CHARACTERIZATION EFFORT IS GONNA BE IMPORTANT GOING FORWARD.
SO AS WE GO INTO THE, THE NEXT SLIDE, THIS, UH, THIS COMMUNICATES THE WORK THAT WE DID FROM A, A RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS PERSPECTIVE.
AND SO THIS IS DIVIDED INTO THREE BROAD CATEGORIES.
SO ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE IS, IS RESIDENTIAL, THE MIDDLE, UH, ADDRESSED, UH, PRIVATE FACILITIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE WERE CATEGORIES THAT, UM, ADDRESSED ISSUES FROM A CITYWIDE PERSPECTIVE.
UH, SO WHAT I'M GONNA DO NOW IS, IS JUST TO WALK THROUGH, UH, EACH OF THESE THREE CATEGORIES, UH, STARTING ON, ON THE NEXT SLIDE WITH RESIDENTIAL.
AND SO THIS IS INFORMATION THAT, UH, CORRESPONDS DIRECTLY, UH, TO WHAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT A FEW MINUTES AGO WITH REGARD TO THE, THE BENCHMARKING.
AND, AND THAT IS A RECOMMENDATION TO IMPLEMENT ALTERNATIVE METRICS, INCLUDING THE PER CAPITA DISPOSAL AND, AND CAPTURE RATE.
AND THE, THE REAL BENEFIT BENEFIT OF THIS IS TO SET A SHORT TERM, UH, GOALS.
AND SO, UH, WHEN WE USE THAT TERM CAPTURE RATE, UH, AN EXAMPLE OF THAT IS, IS DEFINED ON, ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, AND IT'S, IT'S REALLY INTENDED TO MEASURE FOR THOSE MATERIALS THAT ARE A PART OF, WHETHER IT'S A RECYCLING PROGRAM OR, UH, COMPOSTING OR, OR ORGANICS FOR EACH OF THOSE MATERIAL TYPES THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THAT PROGRAM, HOW MUCH OF THOSE MATERIALS ARE, ARE ACTUALLY GETTING, UH, RECYCLED OR, OR COMPOSTED.
SO THIS EXAMPLE IS, IS JUST FOR PLASTICS.
AND SO IN THIS EXAMPLE, THERE WAS, THERE WAS, UH, 5,000, UM, 653 TONS OF MATERIAL THAT, THAT WERE GENERATED.
UH, AND OF THAT 2,933 WERE RECYCLED.
SO IF YOU JUST DIVIDE, UH, THE 2,900 BY THE, THE 5,600, THAT GIVES YOU A, A CAPTURE RATE OF, OF 52%.
UH, SO IN THAT EXAMPLE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE GOOD NEWS IS ALMOST A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN HALF OF THAT MATERIAL IS, IS BEING RECYCLED.
THE BAD NEWS IS, UH, 48% OF IT IS,
[00:25:01]
IS STILL GOING TO THE LANDFILL.SO THE WHOLE IDEA IS WHAT COULD BE DONE, UH, TO DECREASE THAT, THOSE QUANTITIES THAT ARE, THAT ARE GOING TO THE LANDFILL AND INCREASE MORE ON THE RECYCLING SIDE.
AND SO, AS I'LL SHOW YOU ON, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, AND IN JUST A MOMENT, NOT, NOT QUITE YET, IS THAT, UM, AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THIS PLAN IS, IS TO PRIORITIZE CAPTURING THE MATERIAL THAT HAS THE, THE GREATEST, UH, FUTURE DIVERSION POTENTIAL.
UM, AS WELL AS, UH, LOOKING AT WHAT CAN BE DONE TO INCREASE THE ACCESS TO, TO PROVIDE GREATER OPTIONS, UM, FOR HARD TO RECYCLE TYPE MATERIALS.
AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THOSE IN JUST A MOMENT.
UH, BUT ON THIS, THIS NEXT SLIDE, IT JUST GIVES YOU A SENSE OF WHAT ARE, UH, THE PRIORITY TYPES OF MATERIALS TO, TO BE CAPTURED.
AND SO, UH, THESE ARE THE, THE TOP 14 CATEGORIES ON, ON THE RESIDENTIAL SIDE, UM, BY TONNAGE.
AND SO ANYTHING THAT'S IN GREEN AS A PART OF THE, UH, ORGANICS OR, OR COMPOSTING PROGRAM AND WHAT'S IN BLUE ARE MATERIALS THAT CAN BE RECYCLED AS A PART OF THE, THE CITY'S RECYCLING PROGRAM.
AND THEN, UH, YOU CAN SEE HOW MANY TONS WERE DIVERTED AND THEN, UH, BASED ON 2018 DATA, WHAT THAT CAPTURE RATE WAS.
AND SO THE GOAL, UM, AS PART OF THIS PLAN IS TO INCREASE THOSE, THOSE CAPTURE RATES TO 90%.
UM, SO FOR THAT EXAMPLE OF, OF THE PLASTICS THAT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT IN A MOMENT AGO, WHERE IN THAT EXAMPLE, UH, 52% WERE BEING CAPTURED, THE GOAL IS TO GET THAT ALL THE WAY UP TO TO 90%.
UH, JUST ABOUT THE DEFINITION OF CAPTURE RATE.
SO IS CAPTURE RATE JUST MEAN WHAT GOES INTO THE BLUE RECYCLING BIN VERSUS WHAT GOES INTO THE TRASH BIN? OR DOES IT MEAN, I SEE A LOT OF PEOPLE WISH CYCLING, RIGHT? MM-HMM,
DOES CAPTURE RATE LITERALLY MEAN WHAT IS ABLE TO BE RECYCLED AFTER THE WISH CYCLING IS, GOES TO THE GARBAGE? OR DOES IT LITERALLY JUST IS CAPTURE RATE? JUST ANYTHING THAT GOES INTO THE BLUE RECYCLING BIN? MM-HMM,
UM, BUT TYPICALLY WHAT WOULD BE COUNTED AS BEING CAPTURED IS THE MATERIAL THAT ULTIMATELY DOES GET SOLD AS SAY THAT, THAT PLASTIC MATERIAL.
'CAUSE YOU'RE, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU PUT A BUNCH OF MATERIAL IN A, IN A BAG, UM, YOU KNOW, IT, IT MAY OR MAY NOT GET, GET RECYCLED JUST 'CAUSE NO, NO RECYCLING FACILITY, YOU KNOW, CAN IS, IS PERFECT TO BE ABLE TO SAY, RIP OPEN EVERY BAG OR, OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND SO, SO THE IDEA HERE IS THAT IF YOU CAN REALLY FOCUS ON THOSE MATERIALS THAT, THAT ARE ALREADY A PART OF THE, THE PROGRAMS THAT ARE IN PLACE BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UM, TO HAVE A GOAL OF, OF 90%, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S STILL A VERY, UH, HIGH PERCENTAGE, UH, BUT IT'S STILL WITHIN THE GRASP OF, OF WHAT CAN BE DONE.
UM, I WILL SAY I DON'T, I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY OTHER CITIES IN THE COUNTRY THAT ARE AT 90% CAPTURE RATES.
SO THAT IS A VERY LOFTY GOAL TO HAVE IN PLACE.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS BEFORE I KEEP GOING? SO THE, THE NEXT SLIDE ADDRESSES WHAT I MENTIONED A MOMENT AGO IN TERMS OF HARD, HARD TO RECYCLE, UH, TYPES OF MATERIALS.
SO THESE WOULD BE, UH, MATERIALS LIKE HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE, UM, FERTILIZERS, PESTICIDES, THOSE, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.
AND SO THE CITY OF AUSTIN DOES HAVE A, A, A REALLY GREAT PROGRAM THAT'S BEEN IN PLACE FOR, FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.
AND THAT IS THE RECYCLING DROP-OFF CENTER, WHICH IS HERE WITH THIS, THIS GREEN.IS PRETTY MUCH AT THE INTER CLOSE TO THE INTERSECTION OF I 35 AND, AND BEN WHITE.
UM, SO IT'S ON THE, ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF, OF THE CITY.
JUST TO COMMENT, UM, WIND, UH, IF YOU'RE NOT IN THE, ON THE MICROPHONE, THEY HAVE TROUBLE HEARING YOU ON THE WEBINAR.
THANK YOU FOR THAT, THAT REMINDER.
UM, AND FOR THOSE, THOSE OF YOU ALL WHO ARE, UM, VIRTUALLY PARTICIPATING, HOPE YOU HAVE A SENSE OF WHERE THAT, THAT GREEN.IS.
'CAUSE I'LL, I WAS JUST GOING AND POINTING TO THAT.
UM, BUT ANY RATE, THE, THIS SLIDE IS, IS COMMUNICATING WITH, WITH ALL THE RED DOTS.
UH, IT'S, THIS IS ESSENTIALLY A HEAT MAP.
AND SO THOSE RED DOTS, UM, ARE SHOWING PEOPLE WHO ARE SOUTH OF, OF THE COLORADO RIVER ARE USING THAT FACILITY AT A MUCH GREATER RATE AS COMPARED TO PEOPLE WHO LIVE, UH, NORTH OF THE RIVER AS, AS SHOWN BY, BY THE BLUE DOTS.
AND SO, UH, IT'S A, IT'S A GREAT FACILITY.
[00:30:01]
BUT THE IDEA HERE IS THAT IF THERE COULD BE ANOTHER FACILITY THAT COULD, COULD BETTER SERVICE, UH, RESIDENTS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE CITY, UH, THAT THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO, TO CONSIDER GOING FORWARD.SO THE, THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, ADDRESSES, UH, AGAIN, MORE OF THE, THE RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND RESULTS, UH, RELATED TO INFRASTRUCTURE AND PRIVATE ENTITIES.
UH, SO SOME OF THE KEY KEY ISSUES HERE ARE, ARE TO CONTINUE TO MONITOR BOTH RECYCLING, PROCESSING AND TO DISPOSAL CAPACITY, UH, WITHIN THE REGION.
I'LL SHOW YOU ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, WHY WE THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO UTILIZE TRANSFER STATIONS IN THE FUTURE, UM, DUE TO GROWTH IN THE CITY.
AND THEN, UH, FOOD WASTE CONTINUES TO BE A, A VERY SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE, UH, WASTE STREAM.
UH, SO WE SHOWED A, A MOMENT AGO, UH, HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FROM A SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVE, BUT IT'S, IT'S JUST AS HIGHER, EVEN HIGHER, UH, FROM A, AN OVERALL CITYWIDE PERSPECTIVE AND JUST SORT OF FOCUS THERE ON COMMERCIAL, UH, FOOD PROCESSORS, UM, WHOLESALE FOOD DISTRIBUTION AND, AND RETAIL GROCERY STORES IS GONNA BE A KEY EFFORT IN THE FUTURE.
UH, AND THEN TO, TO CONTINUE TO EXPAND AND ENHANCE, UH, THE URO, UH, GOING FORWARD IS ALSO GONNA BE VERY IMPORTANT.
UH, SO THIS NEXT SLIDE GIVES, UH, GIVES AN OVERVIEW OF, OF THE REASONS FOR RECOMMENDING, UH, A TRANSFER STATION, UH, IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND SO ALL OF THE, THE TRASH THAT IS COLLECTED BY, UH, AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY IS DIRECTLY HAULED, UH, TO THE, THE LANDFILL OWNED AND OPERATED BY TDS AND CREEDMORE.
AND SO, UH, FOR THOSE VEHICLES THAT ARE, UH, ESPECIALLY, UM, NORTH OF THE RIVER OR EVEN FURTHER NORTH OF IN THE 180 3 CORRIDOR, YOU'RE LOOKING AT VERY, VERY LONG DISTANCES, UH, TO BE ABLE TO HAUL THAT, THAT MATERIAL.
AND SO BY HAVING A, A TRANSFER STATION THAT PROVIDES MULTIPLE BENEFITS, UH, IN TERMS OF REDUCING, UH, AIR EMISSIONS, UH, BUT THEN ALSO INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THOSE COLLECTION VEHICLES, UH, ON THEIR ROUTES TO BE SERVING CUSTOMERS MORE.
SO, UH, DURING THE COURSE OF THE DAY.
UH, THE NEXT THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, TRANSITIONS US INTO THE CITYWIDE, UH, ASPECT OF, OF THE RESEARCH THAT WE, THAT WE COMPLETED.
AND IN HERE WE LOOKED INTO, UH, THE IMPORTANCE OF INTRODUCING THE, THE CONCEPT OF, OF ZERO WASTE ON A COMMUNITY-WIDE BASIS.
BUT TO DO THAT, UH, THROUGH ACCESSIBLE AND SIMPLE LANGUAGE.
UH, SO AS I'LL SHOW YOU ON ON THE NEXT COUPLE SLIDES, IT'S, IT'S KIND OF LIKE TO SAY WE'RE GONNA FOCUS ON ZERO WASTE, BUT WE'RE NOT NECESSARILY GONNA USE THAT TERM ZERO WASTE BECAUSE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC, YOU KNOW, THEY, THAT YOU CAN HAVE A TOUGH TIME REALLY GRASPING WHAT, WHAT THAT REALLY, UH, IS INTENDED TO, TO MEAN.
AND THEN, UM, OTHER ASPECTS, UH, FOCUSED ON CONTINUED EFFORTS TO, TO EXPAND, UH, REUSE AND, AND WASTE REDUCTION EFFORTS.
BECAUSE AS, AS, AS GREAT AS RECYCLING IS, THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS, IS TO JUST ELIMINATE WASTE, UM, IN ITS ENTIRETY ALTOGETHER.
AND THE BEST WAY TO ACHIEVE THAT IS THROUGH, UH, REUSE AND, AND WASTE REDUCTION TYPE OF EFFORTS.
UM, AND THEN TO ENGAGE WITH BUSINESSES ON CIRCULAR ECONOMY TYPES OF, OF ISSUES.
SO THE, THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, GIVES A SENSE OF, OF, UM, SOME OF THE IDEAS THAT ARE, UH, A PART OF THE RESEARCH IN TERMS OF HOW TO INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT OF ZERO WASTE ON A, ON A COMMUNITY-WIDE BASIS THROUGH, THROUGH THAT ACCESSIBLE AND, AND SIMPLE TYPE LANGUAGE.
AND, AND THE, UH, GRAPHIC ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE IS, IS A REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE OF THAT, JUST TO BE ABLE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION OF, OF HOW DO, HOW DOES, UH, SOMEBODY COMPOST AND TO COMMUNICATE THAT IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES HERE IN, IN ENGLISH AND, AND SPANISH.
AND SO TO USE JUST VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD LANGUAGE.
AND THEN TO COMPLIMENT THAT WITH THE, UH, WITH THE PICTURES OF, OF WHAT THOSE MATERIALS ARE, UH, THIS HAS, UH, BEEN FOUND TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE IN COMMUNICATING, UH, BEHAVIOR CHANGE, UH, ACROSS, ACROSS THE COMMUNITY.
THEN THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, GIVES YOU A SENSE OF, WHEN WE SAY DON'T NECESSARILY USE THE, THE TERMS ZERO WASTE, WHAT DO YOU SAY INSTEAD? AND SO THIS IS A, A WORD CLOUD, UH, THAT ARE IN, UH, INTENDED TO COMMUNICATE OTHER WAYS TO, TO COMMUNICATE THAT SEVERAL OF THESE ARE, ARE ALREADY, UH, VERY MUCH IN USE BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, SUCH AS THE, THE FIX IT, UH, AUSTIN TO WHERE YOU, UH, CONDUCT CLINICS, UH, SAY FOR BICYCLES THAT THAT NEED TO BE REPAIRED.
UM, AND THEN PROBABLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE ONES IS, IS TO THE IDEA TO GIVE AN EXPERIENCE.
SO RATHER THAN GIVE SOMEBODY A, A GIFT THAT'S
[00:35:01]
JUST GONNA GO IN THE BACK OF THEIR CLOSET OR, OR MAYBE GO TO, TO GOODWILL INSTEAD, IF YOU CAN GIVE AN EXPERIENCE, UH, THAT, THAT MAY BE THE PREFERRED ROUTE TO GO AND DEFINITELY, UH, REDUCES THE AMOUNT OF WASTE GENERATED.SO THEN WE'RE GONNA, UH, TRANSITION TO THE, THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, TO TALK ABOUT STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT.
AND AGAIN, UM, WE DID, UH, NEED TO MAKE A, A 90 DEGREE TURN ON ON THAT, YOU KNOW, ONCE WE REALIZED WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH, WITH COVID.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ABLE TO, TO PIVOT AND, AND CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH, WITH ARR AND, AND THE PUBLIC INFORMATION, UH, OFFICE WITHIN THE CITY.
SO, SO ALL IN ALL, IT, IT WORKED OUT VERY WELL, UM, TO WHERE WE CONDUCTED MULTIPLE FOCUS GROUPS, UM, WITH 46 ORGANIZATIONS AND, AND BUSINESSES, UH, ACROSS SEVEN STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS.
UH, AND THEN IN 2021, UH, THERE WERE ADDITIONAL FOCUS GROUPS THAT INVOLVED, UH, 50 RESIDENTS ACROSS ALL 10 OF THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
UM, AND THEN THERE WERE MULTIPLE COMMUNITY SURVEYS, UH, BOTH IN 20 AND 21, UH, WHERE, WHERE THE CITY WAS ABLE TO GET FEEDBACK, UH, FOR MORE THAN THAN 3000, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, RESIDENCE.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA TURN THINGS BACK OVER TO, TO JASON TO, TO WRAP US UP.
SO IF WE COULD GO TO THE, THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO, UM, SO YEAH, SO THIS IS OBVIOUSLY, IT'S BEEN A LONG-TERM PROCESS.
UM, IT'S A LONG-TERM, ALSO PLANNING DOCUMENT.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH A LOT OF THESE, THIS IS, IS REALLY A ROADMAP FOR US, AN UPDATE TO OUR 2011 PLAN.
UM, YOU KNOW, EACH ONE OF THESE POLICY AND PROGRAMS, WE WILL HAVE FUTURE STAKEHOLDER MEETINGS, FUTURE DISCUSSIONS.
THIS IS GONNA HELP GUIDE US KIND OF ALONG THAT PATH TOWARDS ZERO WASTE.
UM, JUST SOME KEY, UM, YOU KNOW, GOALS.
I THINK WITHIN THE, WITHIN THE PLAN ITSELF, UM, JUST LIKE THE HIGHLIGHT IS, UM, ON CALL, UM, COLLECTION OF SERVICES, THESE LIKE BULKY MATERIALS INSTEAD OF, YOU KNOW, BEING SCHEDULED TWO TIMES A YEAR TO BE PICKED UP.
WE ARE PILOTING RIGHT NOW THE ABILITY TO HAVE AN ON-CALL SERVICE, UM, WHERE YOU'D GET A CERTAIN NUMBER OF, FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM, MAYBE CREDITS PER YEAR.
AND YOU COULD HAVE IT COLLECTED, YOU KNOW, AT YOUR, YOU KNOW, SCHEDULING ON A, YOU KNOW, THROUGH AN APP, UM, OR THROUGH PHONE CALL TO SCHEDULE IT FOR COLLECTION, UH, LIKE ARE LOOKING AT THAT FOR HHW BULK AND POTENTIALLY BRUSH AS WELL ROLLING THAT OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
UM, EXPANDING INFRASTRUCTURE, THE IDEA OF TRANSFER STATIONS AND SERVICE CENTERS IS A, IS A, A REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF THIS.
UM, ONE OF OUR BIG GOALS IS TO ELECTRIFY OUR FLEET.
AND SO TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT, WE ARE GOING TO NEED INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, AND THESE TRANSFER STATIONS TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
SO THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A DOMINO EFFECT THERE.
UM, SO, BUT THESE WILL BE IMPORTANT STEPS THAT WE'LL BE LOOKING TO HERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
UM, AND THEN DATA, I THINK DATA IS A BIG PART OF THIS AS WELL.
UM, AND SO I THINK WE, YOU'VE HEARD US SAY THERE'S RIGHT NOW WHERE THERE'S KIND OF A LACK OF DATA, I THINK MIGHT WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY LOOKING TO, UH, BE MORE DELIBERATE ABOUT COLLECTING IT AND COLLECTING IT EFFECTIVELY IN WAYS THAT CAN ACCURATELY MEASURE WHAT WE'RE DOING.
UM, RIGHT NOW, UH, DIVERSION RATE IS THE PRIMARY ONE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
UM, BUT DIVERSION RATE REALLY ONLY CAPTURES WHAT'S ALREADY IN THE BIN.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, EXPANDING, KEEPING THAT DIVERSION RATE GOAL IS IMPORTANT, UM, BUT ALSO EXPANDING WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
AND THOSE WERE THE CAPTURE RATES THAT WE TALKED ABOUT AND THE PER CAPITA DISPOSAL RATES, WHICH DO, UH, DO A LITTLE BIT BETTER JOB OF SOMETIMES OF CAPTURING SOME OF THE OTHER ACTIVITIES LIKE REUSE AND REDUCTION, UM, THAT DIVERSION RATE MAY NOT NECESSARILY CAPTURE.
UM, AND SO, RIGHT, UM, BIG PICTURE, I THINK RIGHT NOW THIS, UH, IS ON THE NOVEMBER 2ND, UM, CITY COUNCIL AGENDA.
UM, WITH THAT, I WILL, UH, CLOSE ANY QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? HEY, Y'ALL APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I'VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT MULTIFAMILY COMPOSTING BEING IN THE PLANS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, CAN ANYBODY SPEAK ON THAT? YEAH.
UM, SO YES, IT IS, IT ISN'T OUR PLAN.
UM, AND WE'VE ACTUALLY JUST HAD A POLICY PASSED, ACTUALLY THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS IN OUR PLAN THAT KIND OF WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON OVER THE YEARS.
LIKE I WAS SAYING, IT DIDN'T STOP US FROM ACTUALLY MOVING FORWARD WITH IT.
SO, UM, IT WAS THREE WEEKS AGO, TWO WEEKS AGO, IT ACTUALLY JUST PASSED COUNCIL.
UM, SO WHAT IT WILL, WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR, IT WILL BE A 20 OCTOBER, 2024 IMPLEMENTATION DATE.
UM, BUT IT WILL REQUIRE COMPOSTING ACCESS AT, UM, ALL MULTI-FAMILY PROPERTIES IN AUSTIN, UH,
[00:40:01]
FIVE UNITS AND ABOVE.AND THEN, UM, I HAD ANOTHER QUESTION TOO.
UM, I GUESS THIS IS SORT OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, BEFORE THE BIN OR YOU KNOW, IF IT DOESN'T MAKE IT INTO THE BIN KIND OF A QUESTION, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, I SERVE ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION AND, UH, WE HAD A, A, A PRESENTATION RECENTLY ABOUT, UH, TRASH IN THE CREEKS, RIGHT? AND, UH, ONE OF THE COMMENTS THAT WAS MADE WAS THAT ONE OF SORT OF THE, THE WORST THINGS THAT THEY FOUND IN THE CREEK WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW, STYROFOAM CONTAINERS, RIGHT? WHICH YOU WOULD TRADITIONALLY FIND FROM LIKE, YOU KNOW, UH, TO GO FOOD ORDERS AND STUFF LIKE THAT.
UM, YOU KNOW, THEY GET INTO THE CREEK AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU SMASH STYROFOAM UP, IT TURNS INTO LIKE, YOU KNOW, LITTLE PELLETS OR WHATEVER.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, IT BECOMES A LOT MORE DIFFICULT TO CLEAN UP AND SORT OF LIKE, UH, TRADITIONAL SOLID THAT YOU MIGHT FIND, UM, OB AGAIN, OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT SURE IF THIS FALLS WITHIN ARRS JURISDICTION BECAUSE IT'S SOMETHING THAT TECHNICALLY IS LIKE OUTSIDE THE BIN, SO TO SPEAK.
UM, BUT YEAH, I WAS WONDERING IF SORT OF, IF THAT'S ON Y'ALL'S RADAR AS FAR AS LIKE, YOU KNOW, MATERIALS TO TRY TO EITHER, YOU KNOW, DIVERT, UM, YOU KNOW, BEFORE IT SORT OF GETS OUT OF THE BIN AND SORT OF, YOU KNOW, INTO WATERWAYS OR SOMETHING.
OR IF THERE'S LIKE A WAY THAT THE CITY CAN TRY TO, YOU KNOW, DISCOURAGE BUSINESSES FROM USING THESE MATERIALS THAT CAN, YOU KNOW, END UP, UH, IN OUR WATERWAYS AND, AND SORT OF POLLUTING, YOU KNOW, THOSE SPACES.
UM, YES, IT'S VERY MUCH I THINK ON OUR RADAR.
UM, THERE'S A FEW COMPONENTS TO THIS.
I THINK ONE IS WE DO CONDUCT OUTREACH, I THINK REGULARLY ON THIS WITH BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS.
UM, WE DO HAVE A REBATE PROGRAM AS WELL THAT WE ACTIVELY WORK, ESPECIALLY WITH BUSINESSES AND RESTAURANTS WHERE THEY CAN TRANSFER FROM LIKE STYROFOAM CONTAINER TO COMPOSTABLE CONTAINERS AS WELL.
UM, I THINK IT'S $1,800 IF THEY, YOU KNOW, TO HELP THEM GET THAT, UH, PROGRAM STARTED AS WELL.
SO WE DO DO A LOT OF ENGAGEMENT AROUND THAT AS WELL.
UM, YOU KNOW, BIGGER PICTURE, I THINK WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS THERE, IT'S A CONTAINER.
THEY'RE DEFINED AS A CONTAINER.
SO FROM THE STATE LEVEL, THERE IS SOME POTENTIAL CHALLENGES THERE THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO INVESTIGATE MORE IF, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER THE BAG BAND THAT HAPPENED AND THEN GOT OVERTURNED? OH, YEAH, YEAH.
AND SO THAT WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, IT WAS REALLY TALKING ABOUT CONTAINERS AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, SO IT IS SOMETHING WE'LL HAVE TO NAVIGATE, I THINK, YOU KNOW, BEYOND THE CITY ITSELF, BUT IT IS VERY MUCH ON OUR RADAR AND SOMETHING THAT WE TRACK, EDUCATE ON, TRY TO MOVE PEOPLE AWAY AND STEER PEOPLE AWAY FROM, YOU KNOW, STYROFOAM, UM, TO EITHER REUSABLE OPTIONS OR, UM, COMPOSTABLE OPTIONS.
I THINK YOU SEE A LOT OF, UH, YOU KNOW, PLACES THAT ARE MORE COGNIZANT OF THIS, RIGHT? THEY USE SORT OF THE, LIKE YOU SAID, THE COMPOSTABLE, UH, TO GO CONTAINERS OR UTENSILS OR STRAWS.
SO YEAH, FOR SURE APPRECIATE IT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS, UH, PRESENTATION.
UM, I BELIEVE THAT, UH, THIS BODY DID RECEIVE A DRAFT OF THE ZERO WASTE PLAN A FEW MONTHS AGO.
UM, AND IT WAS MUCH MORE DETAILED AND SPECIFIC WITH REGARD TO SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM GOALS.
IS THERE AN UPDATE OF THAT WHICH IS PLANNED TO GO TO COUNCIL? UM, AND, AND SECONDLY, UH, THIS BODY ALSO DID MAKE A COUPLE OF RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, WITH RESPECT TO, UM, THE DISPOSAL RATE.
I THINK ONE OF THE EARLY VERSIONS WE SAW HAD A DISPOSAL RATE THAT STAYED FLAT INSTEAD OF, UH, DECLINING OVER TIME.
SO WE HAD RECOMMENDED THAT IT, UM, YOU KNOW, DECLINES OVER TIME AS OPPOSED TO REMAINING FLAT.
AND THEN ALSO THAT THE SHORT TERM GOALS, UM, IN THE DRAFT PLAN WERE SOMETHING LIKE FIVE YEARS.
UM, AND WE WERE RECOMMENDING THAT THEY WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT MORE NEAR TERM, A MORE, A LITTLE BIT MORE, YOU KNOW, CLOSE IN.
UM, SO I JUST WONDERED, IS THERE, UM, SOMETHING THAT'S MORE, UM, YOU KNOW, DETAILED THAT WE COULD LOOK INTO AND IF EITHER OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS HAD BEEN CONSIDERED? YEAH, SO, UM, RIGHT, SO ON THE, ON THE PLANS WE'VE GOT SHORT TERM GOALS, WHICH ARE, THIS IS CONSIDERED A 10 YEAR COMP PLAN FOR US.
AND SO WE CONSIDER THE FIVE YEARS, WHAT DO WE CALL NEAR TERM? AND THEN THE 10 YEARS WAS BEYOND THAT.
UM, AND SO THE REASON THEY WERE DONE THAT WAY IS TO ALLOW FOR US TO HAVE STRATEGIC PLANNING AND TO BE ABLE TO SHIFT THINGS AROUND AS NEEDED TO MAKE ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
AND SO RIGHT NOW WE ARE UNDERTAKING THAT PROCESS.
UM, RIGHT NOW, INTERNALLY WE'RE TAKING THE GOALS IN HERE.
THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IS ANOTHER ONE.
WE'VE GOT A LOT OF COMMITMENTS THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, THAT WE'RE KIND OF SHUFFLING AROUND.
AND SO WE'RE MAKING SURE THAT WE'VE GOT A LITTLE BIT OF ADMINISTRATIVE, YOU KNOW, LATITUDE TO SHIFT THOSE AROUND.
AS I MENTIONED, THIS HAS NOT STOPPED US MOVING FORWARD.
WE'RE MOVING FORWARD ACTIVELY AND AGGRESSIVELY ON MANY THINGS.
[00:45:01]
BIGGEST GOALS, YOU KNOW, MULTI-FAMILY COMPOSTING WAS ONE, YOU KNOW, THIS GRANT FOR FURNITURE REUSE, THESE HAVE HAPPENED.AND SO WE ARE MOVING FORWARD ON THOSE PRETTY QUICKLY.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I SAID IT'S REALLY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S ADMINISTRATIVE FLEXIBILITY, YOU KNOW, FOR OUR TEAM.
UM, BUT THAT, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, WE ARE, WE ARE ALL COMMITTED TO THIS AND WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, MOVING FORWARD AGGRESSIVELY ON THESE.
SO WAS, I'M SORRY, WAS THERE ANOTHER OR MORE TO THAT WAS PER CAPITA THING? YES.
UM, SO, UM, YOU KNOW, SO I THINK WE, WE DID A LOT OF RESEARCH ON PER PER CAPITA.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK FROM THE BEGINNING WITH, WITH THIS TIES INTO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF, I CAN CONCERNS WITH THAT.
AND I THINK REALLY COMPARING TO OTHER ENTITIES AS WELL, UM, IT'S MEASURED VERY DIFFERENTLY, YOU KNOW, BETWEEN THE EPA, YOU KNOW, UM, TCQ, IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF THE, EVERYONE'S KIND OF GOT THEIR OWN WAY OF DOING IT.
IT'S A RELATIVELY NEW MEASURE AS FAR AS DATA GOES WITHIN, YOU KNOW, THE, THE RECYCLING ZERO WASTE WORLD.
AND SO, UM, IT WAS CHALLENGING I THINK FOR US TOO, ALSO, JUST SPEAKING TO THAT IDEA OF LACK OF DATA, I THINK THAT WE'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, WHAT DO WE KINDA MORE OURSELVES TO, YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT'S STABLE.
AND SO THE BEST REALLY INFORMATION THAT WE'VE GOT IS ON OUR RESIDENTIAL CURBSIDE WHERE WE DO HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, MATERIAL, UM, IT'S AUDITED THE DATA, WE FEEL SECURE IN WHAT IT IS.
AND SO, UM, AND THAT RIGHT NOW FOR THE CITY, I THINK IS IN 2022 WAS AT 4.2.
I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, FOR THE STATE RIGHT NOW, IT WAS AT LIKE 6, 9, 6 I THINK FOR TCQ FOR PER CAPITA.
UM, AND WE ALSO DID A COMMUNITY-WIDE ONE, BUT WE DO HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT KIND OF THE DATA INTEGRITY THERE.
SO WHEN WE SAY FOUR, WE DO THINK THAT'S AN AGGRESSIVE GOAL.
UM, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY IN THE SHORT TERM THAT'S EFFECTIVE NOW, I THINK IT'S DAY ONE, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA SHOOT FOR IN THE SHORT TERM.
WE'RE NOT JUST FIGHTING AGAINST GOING DOWN, YOU KNOW? 'CAUSE UM, YOU KNOW, AS WE KNOW, THE PER CAPITA, WHAT WE'RE SEEING ACROSS THE NATION, IT'S GOING UP, THERE'S INCREASING PROBLEMS WITH PACKAGING DESIGN WITH PLASTICS, YOU KNOW, SO WE'RE NOT JUST FIGHTING GOING DOWN A FEW DECIMAL POINTS, WE'RE FIGHTING THE TURN, YOU KNOW, OF THAT, THAT UPWARD TREND THAT WE'RE SEEING ALL ACROSS THE US.
SO, UM, SO REALLY THE SHORT TERM IS WE'RE TRYING TO KEEP THAT, TURN THAT DOWN TO A FOUR.
WE WANT TO GET IT DOWN TO ONE, THAT'S OUR, THAT'S OUR 10 YEAR GOAL AND OUR VISIONARY GOAL THAT WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING TOWARDS.
I THINK THERE'S SOME QUESTIONS FROM THE VIRTUAL ATTENDEES.
SO I GUESS WHO, WHO ON THE VIRTUAL, UH, ATTENDEES HAS A QUESTION? MELISSA, DO YOU HAVE, OR FEEL FREE TO JUST START TALKING? I, I DO, BUT UM, EVA HAS HAD HER HAND UP, SO SHE CAN GO FIRST AND THEN I CAN GO AFTER HER.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I GUESS, UH, I, I, I DID SEE, I THOUGHT A CURRENT VERSION, BUT MAYBE IT'S CHANGED AGAIN.
UM, AND SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND WHAT, WHAT THE DISPOSAL RATE, UM, GOALS SAY.
THE LAST VERSION I SAW ONLY REALLY CALLED OUT A NEAR TERM GOAL OF, OF HOLDING STEADY ARE, ARE THERE NOW NEAR AND LONG, LONG-TERM GOALS.
AND, AND CAN YOU JUST STATE AGAIN EXACTLY WHAT THOSE SAY? YEAH, SO LET ME BEAR WITH ME HERE.
UM, SO YEAH, I THINK IN CHAPTER FIVE, UM, IS WHERE WE TALK ABOUT IT.
BUT YEAH, THE, THE GOAL RIGHT NOW, WHAT I WOULD CONSIDER OUR SHORT TERM GOAL IS FOUR POUNDS, YOU KNOW, PER HOUSEHOLD.
UM, AND SO LIKE I SAID, THAT IS LOWER THAN WHAT OUR DATA IS FROM LAST YEAR.
UM, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA BE SHOOTING TOWARD IN THE, YOU KNOW, IN THE SHORT TERM REALLY IT'LL BE THE POLICY THAT DRIVES, YOU KNOW, DATA IS A REFLECTION OF THE POLICY.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'RE HOPING IS THAT THE POLICIES WE HAVE, EVEN THE ONES WE JUST PUT IN PLACE WILL HELP, YOU KNOW, MOVE THAT DOWNWARD NEXT TIME WE DO OUR MEASURE.
SO IT'D BE IN CHAPTER FIVE, AND IT'S, LIKE I SAID, IT'S THE SHORT TERM IS FOUR, THE LONG TERM IS ONE, IS WHAT WE'VE GOT IN THE PLAN.
SO, UM, IS THAT NOW CALLED OUT IN THE CURRENT VERSION? BECAUSE WHAT I HAD SEEN HAD ONE KIND OF BURIED IN THE TEXT, BUT IT WASN'T IN THE BOXES THAT WERE CALLED OUT WITH THE LONG-TERM
[00:50:01]
GOALS, IS THAT CALLED OUT IN A BOX NOW OR IS IT ALL JUST BURIED IN THE TEXT? UM, IT IS IN THE TEXT.IS THERE A REASON THAT THAT IS NOT, UM, NOT BEING CALLED OUT LIKE THE OTHER GOALS IN THE, IN THE DATA SECTION? IN THE DATA SECTION, WE'RE SPEAKING TO THE MEASURES THAT WE'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE, AND THEN WITHIN THOSE, WE, I THINK DURING THE TEXT WE TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE GOALS WOULD BE.
NO, I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE DEPTH SECTION.
I'M, I'M JUST SAYING IN EACH, IN EACH KIND OF SECTION THERE ARE THESE, I THINK I'M JUST SCROLLING THROUGH NOW, I THINK IT WAS LIKE GRAY KIND OF BOXES, THE AD OR BLUE BOXES I GUESS MAYBE, UH, YEAH, NEAR TERM GOALS.
AND THEN SOME OF THEM ONLY HAVE NEAR TERM, SOME OF THEM HAVE NEAR TERM AND LONG TERM.
SO I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND LIKE, UM, THERE'S A LOT IN THIS PLAN.
IT'S, IT'S KIND OF A LONG DOCUMENT.
SO, UM, AND, AND THAT GOAL IN PARTICULAR, UH, IS AS YOU POINT OUT, IT DIRECTLY LITERALLY IS SUPPOSED TO PLUG INTO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
SO COULD THAT LONG-TERM GOAL OF ONE POUND PER HOUSEHOLD BE, UM, ILLUSTRATED? SO FOR EXAMPLE, I'M SEEING ON CHAPTER SIX, CIRCULAR ECONOMY, THERE'S BOXES WITH NEAR TERM GOALS AND THEN LONG-TERM GOALS.
SO COULD WE GET THAT ADDED, UM, TO HIGHLIGHT MORE CLEARLY WHAT THE LONG-TERM GOAL IS ON, ON DISPOSAL? YEAH, YEAH, I MEAN I, YEAH, WE CAN CONSIDER THAT FOR SURE.
UM, I WAS, I HAD A FEW OTHER, SO I, I, I, YOU KNOW, AS, AS YOU KNOW, WAS MENTIONED, WE, WE'VE MADE A COUPLE RECOMMENDATIONS.
ONE WAS AROUND, UM, THE, THE DISPOSAL RATE.
AND SO I, I AM, I AM GLAD TO SEE THAT, THAT THERE IS A GOAL TO, TO REDUCE IT, UM, SIGNIFICANTLY THAT THAT'S GREAT.
UM, AND SO I THINK WE CAN, YOU KNOW, IT, I THINK JUST ILLUSTRATING THAT ONE BETTER WOULD, WOULD KIND OF CHECK THE BOX ON THAT, BUT THE OTHER ONE HAD TO DO WITH THESE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF NEAR TERM VERSUS LIKE MEDIUM OR LONG-TERM GOALS.
AND I, AND I HEAR YOU THAT THE, YOU KNOW, THE DEPARTMENT WANTS, YOU KNOW, FLEXIBILITY ON SOME OF THOSE.
UM, BUT SOME OF THE ITEMS SEEM LIKE, LIKE, LIKE YOU HIGH HIGHLIGHTED, UM, ARE ALREADY MOVING FORWARD, UM, OR HAVE ALREADY BEEN PILOTED.
UM, AND SO I'M WONDERING, UM, IF SOME OF THOSE COULD BE CALLED OUT FOR, YOU KNOW, MORE IN THE LIKE ZERO TWO YEAR TIMELINE, UM, FOR, YOU KNOW, TO SIGNAL TO THE COMMUNITY THAT THESE THINGS ARE, ARE ACTUALLY COMING AND, UM, YOU KNOW, FIVE YEARS IS STILL, YOU KNOW, QUITE A LONG TIME.
YOU KNOW, THE, I THINK ALL OF THE MEASURES IN THE, UM, CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN WERE, WERE INTENDED FOR FIVE YEARS YEARS.
SO, UM, THINKING ABOUT THE NEAR TERM, I THINK OF TWO YEARS IS, UM, IT IS, IS AN APPROPRIATE KIND OF NUMBER.
AND, AND A COUPLE OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT COME TO MIND, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU MENTIONED THE ON-CALL BULK COLLECTION.
I KNOW THAT'S BEEN PILOTED I THINK FOR TWO OR THREE YEARS NOW, RIGHT? IS THAT SOMETHING I THOUGHT THE DEPARTMENT WAS MOVING FORWARD WITH EXPANDING THAT CITYWIDE.
CAN YOU SPEAK TO THE TIMELINE, THE INTENDED TIMELINE ON THAT? UM, YEAH, SURE.
WE ARE PILOTING IT RIGHT NOW AND WE ARE INVESTIGATING, YOU KNOW, EXPANDING IT IN, IN THE NEXT, YOU KNOW, CALENDAR YEAR.
WE'RE INVESTIGATING THAT RIGHT NOW.
UM, THAT, THAT IS ONE WE ARE LOOKING AT.
BUT WE DON'T HAVE A, A FULL ROLLOUT IMPLEMENTATION AT THIS TIME.
BUT AM AM I REMEMBERING CORRECTLY THAT THAT PILOT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR TWO OR THREE YEARS ALREADY? UM, I BELIEVE THE, OKAY.
I, I, IF I'M TRYING TO REMEMBER WHICH ONE, IT'S THE BULK ONE THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR AY YEAH.
SO I CAN GET BACK TO YOU, GET MORE DETAILS, BUT I THINK, BUT WHAT I REMEMBER IS I KNOW THE BULK ONE HAS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, SO, OKAY.
AND HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE DOOR-TO-DOOR COLLECTION, HAS THAT ALREADY BEEN PILOTED AS WELL? YES, IT IS BEING PILOTED RIGHT NOW AS WELL.
BUT IT'S, I MEAN, I, I UNDERSTAND THE PILOT IS CONTINUING, BUT IT, WHAT HA THAT HASN'T THAT ALSO BEEN GOING ON FOR
[00:55:01]
SOME COUPLE OF YEARS AT LEAST? YEAH.SO YEAH, IT HAS, SO IT'S BEEN GOING ON SINCE 2021 AND IT, YEAH, WE'RE LOOKING TO EXPAND IT, YOU KNOW, THE MICROPHONE.
UM, AND THEN I GUESS, LET'S SEE, SORRY, I JUST HAD THROUGH A COUPLE OF OTHERS.
UM, ENGAGING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UH, TO SUPPORT MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTS, UM, YOU KNOW, AS, AS WAS MENTIONED, MULTI-FAMILY COMPOSTING, YOU KNOW, HAS NOW BEEN ADOPTED AND WILL WILL BE, YOU KNOW, SUPPOSED TO BE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN A YEAR FROM NOW.
UM, IT SEEMS LIKE NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO, UM, YOU KNOW, BOOST BOOST ENGAGEMENT WITH MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTS AND, AND MY UNDERSTANDING FROM TALKING TO OTHERS IN THE DEPARTMENT OR IS THAT THAT IS PART OF THE PLAN, CAN YOU JUST CONFIRM THAT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT, THAT IS HAPPENING IN THE, LIKE, YOU KNOW, MORE IMMEDIATE THAN LIKE FIVE YEAR KIND OF TIMEFRAME? YEAH, NO, IT, IT IS DEFINITELY HAPPENING I THINK RIGHT NOW.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE'VE, UM, ESPECIALLY RELATED AROUND THE COMPOST, WE'VE ALREADY STARTED ACTIVELY ENGAGING WITH THE APARTMENT ASSOCIATION.
WE ARE WORKING WITH THEM WITH EDUCATING OF THE PROPERTY MANAGERS.
UH, THE NEXT PHASE THAT I THINK WE'RE PROBABLY GONNA START LOOKING INTO AFTER THE CALENDAR YEAR, STARTING TO ENGAGE RESIDENTS.
AND SO REALLY ME SPEAKING MORE TO ITS COMPOSTING FOR NOW, JUST 'CAUSE THAT'S THE MORE IMMEDIATE KIND OF CHANGE.
BUT LONG-TERM, WE DO SEE THIS CONTINUING.
UM, YOU KNOW, OVER HALF THE RESIDENTS IN AUSTIN ARE, UM, LIVING IN MULTIFAMILY PROPERTIES NOW.
AND SO WE DO SEE THIS AS SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO EXPAND EDUCATION TO MULTIFAMILY.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOT A PRETTY ROBUST, UM, ZERO WASTE BLOCK LEADER PROGRAM THAT, UM, IS, WHILE THERE IS SOME MULTIFAMILY COMPONENT TO IT IS LARGELY SINGLE FAMILY HOME, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, FOCUSED.
AND, UH, THAT IS IS SOMETHING TOO WE HOPE TO POTENTIALLY EXPAND INTO MULTIFAMILY IN THE COMING YEARS.
SO, UM, YES, IT IS ACTUALLY BE MOVED ON RIGHT NOW.
UM, WE, UH, I GUESS IT WAS A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, HAD A, A GOOD PRESENTATION FROM THE, UM, AUSTIN, WHAT IS THAT? I ALWAYS SAY THE NAME WRONG, BUT I WANNA SAY AUSTIN CLIMATE CORE, BUT I THINK IT'S AUSTIN.
AUSTIN COMMUNITY CONSERVATION CORPS YES.
AND ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THAT? VERY FAMILIAR WITH THAT PROGRAM? YES, YES, WE'RE VERY FAMILIAR, YES.
YEAH, I, I THOUGHT, I THOUGHT YOU WOULD BE, I'M, I'M WONDERING IF YOU THINK THERE MIGHT BE OPPORTUNITY THERE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVE A, HAVE A TRACK THAT MIGHT BE FOCUSED ON, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PERHAPS? UH, YEAH, IT'S SOMETHING WE CAN DEFINITELY LOOK INTO.
OH, SORRY, I DIDN'T MEAN TO CUT YOU OFF.
UM, YEAH, WE CAN DEFINITELY LOOK INTO THAT FOR SURE.
UM, IT IS SOMETHING ON THAT FURNITURE REUSE WAREHOUSE THAT, UM, I REFERRED TO EARLIER FOR THE GRANT.
THAT IS SOMETHING WE ARE HOPING TO, YOU KNOW, PARTNER WITH THE CONSERVATION CORPS ON, UM, TO HOPEFULLY TEACH, UH, REPAIR, UM, HELP MAN, YOU KNOW, TEACH JOB SKILLS AND ALSO POTENTIALLY, YOU KNOW, JUST HELP MAN THE WAREHOUSE ITSELF.
SO, SO WE ARE LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES, UM, ANYWHERE WE CAN TO PARTNER WITH THE CONSERVATION CORPS.
YEAH, WELL, I I THINK THAT'S A, A PRETTY GREAT OPPORTUNITY THERE, A GOOD PROGRAM.
UM, AND THEN ON THE MULTIFAMILY PROPERTIES, UM, WITH, WITH UP TO FOUR UNITS, UM, THIS WAS MENTIONED AS, UH, A, A GOAL, AT LEAST IN THE LAST VERSION OF THE PLAN, UM, THAT I SAW TO KIND OF EXPLORE, UM, YOU KNOW, STANDARDS FOR SERVICE ON THOSE PROPERTIES.
UM, I, I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A, AN ONGOING ISSUE, SO I WAS JUST WONDERING IF YOU COULD SHARE A LITTLE WHAT THE STATUS QUO IS AND IF THAT REALLY IS, YOU KNOW, IF THAT ISSUE IS GETTING ADDRESSED, YOU KNOW, NOW, OR IF, IF WE'RE STILL YEARS AWAY FROM HAVING, UM, YOU KNOW, FULL SERVICE FOR THOSE PROPERTIES IN TERMS OF BOTH COMPOST AND, AND RECYCLING.