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Solid Waste Management in the City of Houstom
休斯顿垃圾管理

The mission of the Department of Solid Waste Management is to provide solid waste services to the citizens of Houston through the collection, disposal and recycling of discarded material in a manner that is safe, efficient, environmentally sound and cost-effective. This department provides garbage collection service to more than 387,000 residential units and small commercial establishments. Residential units served include single-family homes and multi-unit arrangements of no more than eight individual units under one roof.

The department, led by Director Thomas Buchanan, employs about 600 people, 70% of whom are operations personnel.

Today, 1.84 million people occupy this city of about 600 square miles, which equates to 360,000 acres. Basic residential garbage collection service is provided one day per week. Heavy trash is collected once per month.

Each year this department collects more than 550,000 tons of solid waste. Each collection day, the department collects and disposes of more than 2,500 tons of refuse at area transfer stations and landfills. The department also collects approximately 60,000 tons of recyclables each year.

The Department of Solid Waste Management is committed to providing recycling opportunities to all Houstonians. Curbside recycling, which is provided to more than 140,000 homes, continues to be the most popular recycling program. Neighborhoods participation levels range as high as 85%.
Each collection day, recycling division personnel collect 80 tons of recyclables from the curbside program. Materials collected curbside include newspapers, magazines, telephonebooks, used motor oil, aluminum, plastic and tin. Other recycling programs include yard trimmings, office paper, wood waste, Christmas trees, household hazardous waste and tire recycling.

The department operates four service centers. The locations are: 5614 Neches, 1245 Judiway, 1502 Central, and 11500 South Post Oak.

The collection fleet includes automated garbage collection trucks each with one operator for residential garbage collection. There is also a fleet of open-top tractor trailers and grapple trucks for the heavy trash service.

Although the department directly serves 259,700 households, an additional 72,934 homes receive garbage service from the private sector Republic Waste through a contract with the City of Houston.

The department also pays for a sponsorship program for an additional 55,000 residents. The sponsorship program is unique to Houston. Under a sponsorship agreement, a civic association negotiates with a private garbage company to provide garbage collection services for that neighborhood. The City of Houston will reimburse the civic association at a rate of up to $6.00 per household each month.

The Department of Solid Waste Management collects 67% of the residential garbage in the City of Houston while private garbage companies collect 33%. However, the department collects approximately 35% of Houston's total waste stream while the private sector collects approximately 65%. Private companies collect garbage from apartments, condominiums, commercial businesses and private industry in Houston.