Austin, Texas, enacts composting requirement for multifamily communities

The city of Austin, Texas, has enacted a new composting requirement for multifamily communities. As of Oct. 1, all multifamily communities with five or more dwelling units must provide residents and employees with convenient access to commercial composting collection services.

The requirement applies to apartments, condos, non-state dorms, assisted living facilities and nursing homes. More than half of Austinites live in multifamily communities, according to city officials. 

Austin Resource Recovery (ARR) completed stakeholder engagement before the Austin City Council amended the city’s Universal Recycling Ordinance (URO) in September 2023. A 2015 Community Diversion Study found that 85 percent of landfill waste generated in Austin came from the commercial and multifamily sector, and 37 percent of material sent to the landfill was compostable. 

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“Keeping food scraps and other organic material out of the landfill is important to help Austin reach its zero-waste goal,” ARR Director Richard McHale says. “We are proud that Austin is the first city in Texas to require composting access for residents who live in multifamily communities.” 

Multifamily properties will need to provide one gallon of composting capacity per residential unit, with weekly collection and no overflowing containers. They must accept certain materials for composting, including food scraps, food-soiled paper and Biodegradable Product Institute- (BPI-) certified compostable products.  

Properties will be required to provide educational materials to residents and employees, submit a plan every year to the city and make sure signs and labels are in at least two languages on all composting containers.

ARR says it notified properties about the requirements through a prior news release, emails, letters and advertising. The department has provided planning and educational resources including best practices, printable signs and flyers and a video summarizing what can be composted.   

The city also offered a rebate to help multifamily properties start or expand their composting program before the new requirements went into effect. The Zero Waste Business Rebate will be available again later this year, with applications open through July 1, 2025, for eligible properties seeking items such as indoor composting collection bins. 

If needed, the city of Austin says properties can request a waiver when they submit their required recycling plan until Feb. 1. Waivers are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis, the city says, and may be approved for properties that show a good faith effort to comply.