The City of Houston and Waste Management have reached tentative agreement on a new 2-year contract that will allow the city to continue offering recycling services without any disruption. The only change in service that Houstonians will notice is the elimination of glass from the list of items that are acceptable for placement in the green curbside single-stream recycling bins. Glass, currently has no value on the commodities market, breaks down during collection and transportation and is unduly destructive to the processing equipment.
Residents will still have the option of dropping off glass for recycling at the City’s neighborhood depositories.
In announcing the tentative agreement, Mayor Sylvester Turner thanked Waste Management and Houstonians for being willing to engage in shared sacrifice during a time of fiscal challenges. “This agreement makes good economic sense for the city and for Waste Management,” said Turner. “We want to reaffirm our commitment to recycling but we don’t want the city tied down to a long-term contract that we cannot afford.”
The new arrangement, which City Council will consider on March 23, offers $2 million in savings over other options that had been on the table.
The City’s 6 Neighborhood Depository/Recycling Centers are located at:
- 9003 N. Main St. 77022
- 14400 Sommermeyer 77041
- 5565 Kirkpatrick 77028
- 2240 Central Street 77017
- 5100 Sunbeam 77033
- 10785 SW Freeway 77074
More information on the hours of operation and the materials that are accepted at the Neighborhood Depositories/Recycling Centers is available at http://www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/depositories.html
Watch Mayor Turner & Waste Management’s Press Conference for more information about this agreement and answers to questions about why we can no longer collect glass in the bins: https://youtu.be/Px4DpF6OcDE
