Houston to Expand Curbside Program

The city of Houston has announced plans to expand the city’s residential curbside collection program by around 100,000 households by the end of 2013. The city also is moving more residents to its single stream program. Under the expansion plan residents will be given a 96-gallon container for recyclables.

Gary Readore, the chief of staff for Houston’s solid waste department, says the program will add 35,000 homes to its single-stream recycling program in July 2013 and will add 70,000 homes to the program by October.

The city will be involved in the collection of the material and Waste Management Inc. will be responsible for processing it. The city will share in the revenue generated through the sale of the recyclables.

The decision to expand the program follows the release of Houston Mayor Annise Parker’s 2014 fiscal year budget.

The cost of the expansion will be around $7.6 million, and the city expects the revenue generated from the sale of the recyclables, as well as other cost savings, to help cover the cost.

Readore says the city is anticipating a 60 percent participation rate when the single-stream program is expanded to more than 200,000 residents. Houston has an estimated total of around 380,000 households.

Readore says the city presently collects around 2,100 tons of recyclables per month.