An article in the Austin Monitor reports that only one of Austin’s 300 public parks has recycling bins because of the Parks and Recreation Department’s limited funds and staff.
“There is no intent not to provide the service,” Jessica King, division manager for Austin Resource Recovery, said in a Wednesday, July 13, 2016 briefing to the Zero Waste Advisory Commission, the Monitor reports. She added that the department intends to identify the highest traffic areas of the parks to install containers.
“Our goal is to pair,” King said. “To place a recycling container next to a trash can.”
The department also plans to request six additional full-time employees in the next budget cycle and a one-time capital cost of $150,000 to pay for containers, the Monitor reports.
Andrew Dobbs, regional director of the Texas Campaign for the environment, expressed frustration with the department’s claims of lack of funding and staff.
“This is unacceptable, where we’re at right now,” he said to the commission. “What I see here is a philosophy of ‘do as we say, not as we do.’”
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