A new requirement from the City of Austin goes into effect next week for multifamily communities. Beginning Oct. 1, 2024, Austin will require all multifamily communities with five or more dwelling units to provide their residents and employees with convenient access to commercial composting collection services. The requirement applies to apartments, condos, non-state dorms, assisted living facilities and nursing homes.
More than half of Austinites live in multifamily communities. Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) completed stakeholder engagement before the Austin City Council amended the city鈥檚 Universal Recycling Ordinance (URO) in September 2023. A 2015 Community Diversion Study found that 85% of landfill waste generated in Austin came from the commercial and multifamily sector鈥攁nd 37% of material sent to the landfill was compostable.
鈥淜eeping food scraps and other organic material out of the landfill is important to help Austin reach its zero waste goal,鈥� said ARR Director Richard McHale. 鈥淲e are proud that Austin is the first city in Texas to require composting access for residents who live in multifamily communities.鈥�
Multifamily properties will need to provide one gallon of composting capacity per residential unit, with weekly collection and no overflowing containers. They must accept certain materials for composting, including food scraps, food-soiled paper and BPI-certified compostable products.
Many of the other composting requirements match existing multifamily recycling requirements. Properties will be required to provide education to residents and employees, submit a plan every year to the city, and make sure signs and labels are in at least two languages on all composting containers.
ARR notified properties about the requirements through a prior news release, mailed letters, emails and advertising. The department has provided planning and education resources including best practices, printable signs and flyers and a video summarizing what can be composted.
The city also offered a rebate to help multifamily properties start or expand their composting program before the new requirements went into effect. The Zero Waste Business Rebate will be available again later this year, with applications open through July 1, 2025, for eligible properties for items such as indoor composting collection bins.
Multifamily properties need to actively work this year toward complying with the new requirements. If needed, properties can request a waiver when they submit their required recycling plan between Oct. 1 and Feb. 1. Waivers are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis and may be approved for properties that show a good faith effort to comply.