Recycling and Waste in Austin
A lot of us in Austin do our best to recycle, but the city’s system can make it harder than it should be. Plastic in particular seems to slip through the cracks, landing in landfills instead of coming back around. Even when we do our part, much of our waste still never gets reused.
Recycling in Austin is not always as simple as tossing a bottle in the bin. Most apartments and businesses use private trash companies and each one has its own rules about what counts as recyclable. Even when you do everything right, a little contamination like a leftover lid or a dirty container can ruin an entire batch. That is part of why so much plastic, paper, and metal never makes it back into use.
What This Means
The numbers tell a pretty clear story. According to the Austin Resource Recovery Audit Summary reported by Austin Monitor, only about 37 percent of Austin’s waste is actually diverted from landfills. Austin’s goal is to divert 90 percent of waste by 2040, but Zero Waste updates from Austin Resource Recovery and KUT Austin show we have a long way to go.
Plastics are one of the biggest trouble spots, often rejected because the system cannot process everything fast enough. The gap between what we could recycle and what actually gets recycled is more than just a numbers problem. It affects our neighborhoods, our environment and our ability to turn waste into resources. Initiatives like ReCreateIt show one way to bridge that gap and keep materials circulating right here in Austin.
Where ReCreateIt Comes In
This is exactly the challenge ReCreateIt is designed to solve.
Instead of sending plastic through long and uncertain processing paths, we take local containers donated to the ReStore, shred them on site, and turn them directly into new products using 3D Printing inside the Gigalab. By transforming plastic right here in Austin, we keep it out of landfills and return it to the community as useful and beautiful home goods.
Why Local Matters
Keeping the whole process in Austin makes a real difference. It means less material gets rejected or tossed aside, and it keeps plastic in a loop we can actually see. But more importantly, it helps people feel connected to the work.
Every time plastic stays in Austin and becomes something new, it helps build the kind of system we actually want. One that is clear, reliable, and rooted in the community.
It is not about perfection. It is about creating something better, together.
This is how community driven change grows.
