Now You Can Toss Foil in the Recycling
Aluminum has joined the recycling party in Austin. Photo by Era Sundar/KUT NewsAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
By Era Sundar
Every year Austin adds a new material to its recycling stream. This year it’s aluminum. Tin foil and baking pans can now go in the blue single-stream recycling containers for pickup.
Materials collected from recycling bins are sorted, packaged and sold so they can be processed into new materials. The new stream of aluminum waste will be sent out of the country, as plastics and paper are. But the city is trying to develop more local sources for processing recycled waste.
“Glass is domestic, and we will have more glass reprocessing plants within the state of Texas, perhaps in the Austin area,” said Bob Gedert, director of Austin Resource Recovery. “So part of our economic development platform is to bring these processors and these companies to Austin.”
Finding local processors is a long-term plan. Recycling waste is less expensive than burying it in a landfill, Gedert said.
Podcast: Download (1.1MB)
