City Council selects CTR as sole commercial refuse hauler

The Round Rock City Council voted unanimously Thursday, Nov. 4, to select Central Texas Refuse (CTR) as the City’s sole commercial refuse hauler. 

Under the previous program, there have been five companies with franchise agreements with the City that enable them to offer refuse collection services to commercial clients, including multi-family properties.  

Michael Thane, Director of Utilities and Environmental Services, said most problems with the current program are a result of multiple vendors providing similar services, which result in: 

  • Excess wear and tear on streets caused by multiple vendors’ heavy equipment driving duplicate routes  
  • Inefficient collection because of vendors driving duplicate routes 
  • Increased air pollution caused by multiple vendors’ heavy equipment driving duplicate routes 
  • Multiple dumpsters at numerous locations such as strip shopping centers, which is visually unappealing 

Moving to a single provider refuse collection system for commercial properties has many benefits, Thane said. Among them are: 

  • Less wear and tear on streets by having one vendor pick up all commercial solid waste 
  • Expected lower cost to businesses through economies of scale due to a single vendor collecting every commercial property’s solid waste 
  • Continued lower costs as the City will set the baseline for commercial collection rates and control future rate increases 
  • The new program will result in fewer dumpsters at numerous locations throughout the City  which will improve community aesthetics 

Because the City has a long-term relationship with CTR, City Council directed staff to negotiate with CTR to see if it could reach an agreement on a combined residential and commercial contract. While there was not a bidding process for the service change, the rates negotiated with CTR are lower than what it currently offers its Round Rock commercial customers. 

CTR has held the sole contract for residential refuse collection in Round Rock for 30 years. Thane said Round Rock residents have ranked solid waste collection with high rates of satisfaction in the City’s biennial survey

The City will provide written notice to the four other companies currently providing commercial refuse collection that their franchise agreements will end on April 30, 2022. Thane said a component of the communication effort will be for CTR to ensure they provide equal or better service as the customer had been receiving prior to this change. 

As of January 2021, there were 1,672 commercial accounts in the City. Central Texas Refuse services 667 accounts, Waste Management 484, Texas Disposal Systems 316, Progressive/Waste Connections 183, and Central Waste and Recycling 22. 

RECENT NEWS

SHARE

SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSFLASH

Round Rock’s digital newsletter providing residents news, events and general information regarding city government.

Scroll to Top