A recycling ordinance adopted by the Austin City Council in 2012 is entering the next phase to ensure more Austin businesses will be in business to recycle, according to a news release Tuesday by the Austin Resource Recovery.
By Oct. 1, 2014, more commercial and multifamily properties will be required to offer recycling. Affected businesses include commercial properties larger than 50,000-square-feet and multifamily properties with more than 25 units. According to the city, this means more than 1,000 Austin businesses must offer recycling.
Some businesses that do not have recycling programs, such as retail stores, malls, hotels and motels, industrial facilities, restaurants, bars and grocery stores, will now be required to recycle in the next few years.
The city wants to be a zero waste city by 2040, and by Oct. 1, 2017, all businesses in Austin will be required to recycle.