City council voted to approve $12.4 million dollars for the City of Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department to purchase dozens of new garbage and recycling trucks.
The new trucks will replace an aging fleet that many say has contributed to missed and delayed recycling pickups.
Residents with green recycling bins in front of their homes expressed cautious optimism.
“I’m just not seeing the recycling being picked up regularly.” said Danielle Ranneft, a Houston resident.
Some bins have reportedly sat out for weeks, sometimes more than a month.
David Canlin, another resident, said, “City services have been sketchy.”
Mayor John Whitmire said the funding will allow the Solid Waste Management Department to buy 31 new trucks.
Resident Alfredo Garcia said, “Hopefully they’ll, you know, spend that money wisely.”
Whitmire cautioned that new trucks alone won’t solve the problem. He pointed to a contract signed during the tenure of former Mayor Sylvester Turner as a major obstacle.
“Number one obstacle is one drop-off location for recycling. One drop-off per 600 square miles,” Whitmire said. “It’s been like this since the city signed the contract with the Spanish vendor. We’re examining that contract letter by letter. We’ve got to have more drop-offs. We’re going to have the personnel and the trucks. But there is a model put in place by the city of Houston that is counterproductive to successful recycling.”
He added, “I just don’t know how a reasonable person can give someone a long-term contract that is dysfunctional. And it makes you wonder, who knew who? Let’s go ahead and put that on the table. There’s no reason that contract should be in place.”