HOUSTON — The City of Houston is having trouble keeping up with its recycling program.
We've heard from people across the city, who want to know why it's taking weeks to get their recycling picked up. In some cases, bins have been sitting on the curb since before Christmas.
We took that question to Director of Solid Waste Mark Wilfalk, who said there's a reason why recycling isn't as fast as people want it to be.
"Our neighborhoods are becoming much more dense, right? So that means where there was one house, we're putting three homes there. That equates to more trash that's being produced," he said.
Wilfalk said he currently has drivers working six days a week to keep up with the demand.
"We know our recycling services aren't running on time," he told us.
Last year, there were 20,222 complaints called into 311 for missed recycling. Of those, Tuesday's B schedule was at the top of the list and that just happens to be the route Cindy Case, who called us for help, is on.
"We have been canceled three times in a row now, we have not had recycle pick up since December 12," she told us.
After we called the city, they picked up the bins on Cindy's street, but Director Wilfalk told us there's a reason Mondays and Tuesdays are prone to cancellations.
"If they work on the Sunday and then they have to come back and work a whole another 6 days, then that means now I have an exhausted driver that's out on the road that hasn't had a day off," he said.
Wilfalk arrived in 2021, recruited by former Mayor Sylvester Turner from Tampa. While he came from a smaller city, his budget was bigger there than it is in Houston. He also points to other cities which have monthly trash fees that include recycling:
- Dallas - $37.98
- Austin - $55
- San Antonio - $30.25
- Corpus Christi - $16.91
- Houston - $0
"I think that we can either continue on at this path that we're going and we're going to constantly be the best complaint resolvers that you have, that's not what I'm used to," said Wilfalk. "What I'm used to is being able to develop or and operate in a more sustainable system. Which Houston has the potential to do and we just need to continue to educate folks on the benefits."
Introducing a monthly trash and recycling fee is something that city council would have to vote on. Meantime, notices for recycling schedule changes are posted on the department's website. It also has an app you can download called HTX Collects. On it, you can receive notifications about your route and file a 311 complaint if your bin isn't getting picked up.
If you have a problem and need help, email GraceCanHelp@khou.com, call (713) 521-HELP or fill out the form below.