Under the proposed 2019 city budget, the San Antonio Solid Waste Management Department proposes increasing the fee of larger brown garbage carts while decreasing the price of smaller garbage carts.
It’s a push by the city to improve its recycling rate of 33 percent to 60 percent by 2025.
Solid Waste Management assistant director Josephine Valencia said the hope is residents will use the free blue recycling and green organics carts more often.
“If you’re filling up your larger cart right now, we’re estimating that about more than 40 percent of what’s in the large cart right now can go into the blue cart. Another significant portion can go into the green cart,” she said.
Most residential solid waste customers have the larger brown 96-gallon cart, at about $24 per month.
But under the proposed budget, it will be raised to $29 dollars starting in October. The city is offering a 64-gallon garbage cart for $21 per month and a 46-gallon cart for $19 per month. The blue and green carts will remain one size with no additional fees.
According to the solid waste department, about 1,500 customers per month are switching to the smaller-sized trash carts. Currently, about 92 percent of customers have the largest cart.
The San Antonio City Council must approve a final budget by mid-September. If the garbage cart proposal is approved, it takes effect Oct. 1.
Joey Palacios can be reached at joey@tpr.org and on Twitter at @Joeycules
