Austin City Code tit. 15, ch. 15-6, art. 1 — GENERAL PROVISIONS | Austin City Code (Supp. No. 174: codified through Ordinance No. 20260521-050, effective June 1, 2026) — City of Austin

Austin City Code § 15-6-1 DEFINITIONS.

§ 15-6-1 - DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: (1) AVERAGE DIVERSION RATE means the percentage of all inbound commingled material over a period of time that a facility diverts for beneficial use. (2) AUSTIN METRO AREA means the five-county metropolitan area that surrounds the City of Austin. (3) BENEFICIAL USE means productive use of materials reclaimed through separation, processing, deconstruction, or other means, and made available for recycling or reuse, but does not include placement in a disposal facility, used as daily cover in a disposal facility, or used for energy recovery. (4) CODE COMPLIANCE means the Department of Code Compliance. (5) CODE COMPLIANCE DIRECTOR means the director of the Department of Code Compliance. (6) COLLECTION SERVICE means scheduled collection and disposition of solid waste and recyclables, or compostable materials. (7) COMPOSTABLE MATERIAL means organic material recovered, collected, or otherwise diverted from the non-hazardous solid waste stream, a substantial portion of which will decompose in a managed compost operation. (8) COMPOSTING FACILITIES means an offsite facility holding all required local, state, and federal authorizations where the organic component of municipal solid waste is decomposed under controlled conditions for purposes of beneficial reuse. (9) CONTAINER means a permanent collection receptacle made to collect and contain solid waste. (10) DECONSTRUCTION means dismantling or extracting reusable materials from a project prior to or instead of traditional demolition. (11) DEPARTMENT means the Austin Resource Recovery Department. (12) DIRECTOR means the director of the Austin Resource Recovery Department. (13) FACTORY DEMONSTRATION VEHICLE means a vehicle that meets the requirements of Section 15-6-72 and that a dealer provides to a licensee, as a prospective buyer, to operate and use for a period not to exceed 14 days. (14) HAULER has the same meaning as SERVICE PROVIDER. (15) HAZARDOUS WASTE means any solid waste identified or listed as a hazardous waste by the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency in accordance with the federal Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 United States Code, §§ 6901 et seq. (16) LIQUID WASTE has the same meaning as the definition contained in 30 Tex. Admin. Code § 330.3. (17) MANAGER means a person who handles the day-to-day operations of a premises on behalf of an owner. (18) MEDICAL WASTE has the same meaning as the definition contained in 30 Tex. Admin. Code § 330.3. (19) PREMISES means real property and any improvements on the real property. (20) PRIVATE COLLECTION SERVICE means the collection, removal, or transportation of solid waste from any premises within the City for a fee. (21) PROCESSOR means a facility that sorts, crushes, grinds, composts, or recycles materials. (22) PROJECT means activities described in Subsection 25-11-39(C) (Construction and Demolition Materials Diversion Required). (23) PROJECT DISPOSAL RATE means the total pounds of material generated by a project and disposed per square foot of the project. (24) PROJECT DIVERSION RATE means the percentage of the materials generated by the project and diverted for beneficial use onsite or offsite. (25) QUALIFIED PROCESSOR means a facility that meets the qualifications in Division 2 of Article 9 (Construction and Demolition Materials Diversion Program). (26) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL means non-hazardous material, including compostable material, that has been recovered or diverted from disposal in Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) facilities for purpose of reuse, recycling or reclamation and a substantial portion of which is consistently used in the manufacture of products, which may otherwise be produced using raw or virgin materials. (27) RECYCLING means a process by which materials that have served their intended use or are scrapped, discarded, used, surplus, or obsolete are collected, separated, composted, or processed, and returned to use in the form of raw materials in the production of new products. The definition of recycling does not include waste-to-energy processes, placement in a disposal facility, or use as daily cover in a disposal facility. (28) RESPONSIBLE PARTY means: (i) the owner of a premises or an employee of the owner or (ii) the manager of a premises or an employee of the manager. (29) SERVICE PROVIDER means a person who is compensated for the removal or transportation of solid waste, compostable material, or recyclable material, for a fee, from any location within the City of Austin. Services that are subject to State or Federal requirements related to the transportation of medical or hazardous waste, including oil, liquids, or grease are excluded. (30) SOLID WASTE means rubbish, refuse, and other discarded materials. (31) SOLID WASTE SERVICE means collection or disposal of solid waste, collection or processing of recyclable material, litter abatement, street cleaning, or household hazardous waste disposal. (32) WASTE-TO-ENERGY (WTE) means a process of generating energy directly from materials through a process that yields fuel or heat. WTE is not diversion, nor is it supported by the Department's Master Plan but it is considered an alternative disposal technology that must include the life-cycle effects on the environment. Source: 1992 Code Section 12-3-2; Ord. 031204-14; Ord. 031211-11; Ord. 20090312-014; Ord. 20101104-018; Ord. 20120628-012; Ord. 20130425-007; Ord. No. 20140612-010, Pt. 1, 6-23-14; Ord. No. 20141211-202, Pt. 1, 1-1-15; Ord. No. 20151119-098, Pt. 1, 10-1-2016.

Austin City Code § 15-6-2 DEPARTMENT CREATED.

§ 15-6-2 - DEPARTMENT CREATED. (A) The Austin Resource Recovery department is created as a utility. (B) The city manager shall appoint a director to manage the department. (C) The department shall provide solid waste service to City residents in an efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Source: 1992 Code Section 12-3-1; Ord. 031204-14; Ord. 031211-11; Ord. 20120628-012.

Austin City Code § 15-6-3 ADMINISTRATION.

§ 15-6-3 - ADMINISTRATION. (A) The director shall adopt rules to administer and enforce this chapter. (B) Before the director may adopt or amend a rule under this chapter, the director shall present the proposed rule to the Zero Waste Advisory Commission for consideration and recommendation to City Council and the City Council will approve, modify or disapprove of the proposed rule. (C) The department shall make a copy of the rules available to a customer on request. (D) Violation of a rule adopted by the director under the authority of this code is an offense of City Code and a Class C Misdemeanor punishable as an offense. Source: 1992 Code Sections 12-3-3(A) and (B); Ord. 031204-14; Ord. 031211-11; Ord. 20101104-018; 20120126-049; Ord. 20120628-012.

Austin City Code § 15-6-4 RULES.

§ 15-6-4 - RULES. The director shall include in the rules adopted under this chapter: (1) a list of items that the department collects; (2) a list of public alleys where a mechanically-handled refuse container may not be placed; and (3) a list of items that must be recycled by a recycling service under Article 5 (Universal Recycling). Source: 1992 Code Sections 12-3-3(C) and (D), and 12-3-4(A); Ord. 031204-14; Ord. 031211-11; Ord. 20101104-018.

Austin City Code § 15-6-5 MATERIAL COLLECTED.

§ 15-6-5 - MATERIAL COLLECTED. (A) To be eligible for collection under this chapter: (1) for solid waste service, an item must be acceptable at a Type I municipal solid waste site in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations; (2) for bulky collection service, an item must be acceptable at a Type IV municipal waste site in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations; (3) for brush collection and yard trimmings collection service, an item must be compostable wood or fiber materials acceptable for use in the City's composting program; and (4) for recyclable collection service, an item must be acceptable under applicable laws and regulations and the City's contracts with purchasers of recyclable materials. (B) The director may impose additional restrictions on items or quantities of items to be collected from the department's customers: (1) to protect the safety of department personnel; (2) based on the capability and capacity of the department's collection equipment; and (3) based on market and pricing of recyclable materials. Source: 1992 Code Section 12-3-4; Ord. 031204-14; Ord. 031211-11.