Composting curbside will soon be an option for more Austinites

Hoping to move toward its “Zero Waste” goal—to keep 90 percent of its trash out of landfills and incinerators by 2040—Austin will expand its curbside composting program in October, the Austin American-Statesman reported Wednesday.

The areas where residents will be provided a green container to set out their compost for collection are adjacent to the areas that were designated for the pilot program, started in 2013. The paper reports that the program will be available to at least one neighborhood in every district.

The Statesman added that after the newest neighborhoods are brought on, there will be 52,000 homes with curbside composting, and the city hopes to make it available to all residents by 2020.

All Austin residents with curbside trash service are currently helping fund the composting program for $1 a month for the composting program. A city official told the Statesman, that customers will pay $4 a month for composting when the program covers the whole city.

In addition to receiving some funding from customers, the city has a three-year, $1.51 million contract with Organics by Gosh, according to the Statesman, with the option of a three-year extension, costing a maximum of $4.36 million total. Organics by Gosh can also sell the compost at $40 per cubic yard and keep the proceeds.

The city will send out cards to new curbside composting customers, but in the meantime, you can go to austinrecycles.com to see if your home is included.