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The Commercial Multifamily Recycling Ordinance (CMFRO) was enacted in 1999, and established a recycling program for apartments that have over 100 units, and businesses that have over 100 employees. The program requires that apartments offer recycling for a minimum of four materials, and businesses offer recycling for a minimum of two materials.
The Austin City Council approved changes to the current Commercial/Multifamily Recycling Ordinance (CMFRO) on Nov. 4, 2010. Theses changes affect all commercial and multifamily properties within the Austin city limits. The ordinance will be phased in over the next four years, requiring more than 4,500 properties to recycle by October 2015. The revised ordinance has been renamed the Universal Recycling Ordinance.
Chapter 12-3-7 of the Solid Waste Guidelines
Here are some highlights of the rules:
A customer/tenant shall set out the solid waste receptacle at the designated collection location at the public street or alley no earlier than 8:00 p.m. on the day preceding the collection day and no later than 6:30 a.m. on the collection day.
- A customer shall remove the solid waste receptacle from the collection location not later than 10:00 p.m. on the collection day.
- The receptacles must be placed for collection at the curb or edge of street.
- Garbage, yard trimmings and recyclables should be placed at least five feet away from each other where space allows. (Do not set out on top of water meters or in the path of the mail delivery vehicle or in front of mailboxes. The Department may designate specific locations for container placement.)
- Customers shall use the city-issued garbage cart(s) for their garbage. (If a customer subscribes to more than one garbage cart, the additional cart(s) shall be tagged by the City of Austin. )
- Extra Garbage Stickers are required for any garbage outside of the cart, or for any garbage in the cart, which will not allow the lid to close completely. Bags of extra garbage must have an Extra Garbage Sticker attached to each bag. Any extra garbage not properly tagged with an Extra Garbage Sticker will be collected and the customer will be assessed an un-stickered garbage fee as established by ordinance.
- Overloaded carts will not be emptied. If the lid to the cart(s) will not close, the extra garbage must be removed and placed in a plastic garbage bag(s) no larger than 40-gallons and set beside the cart.
