Category Archives: Recycle

Waste management protocol

From Mark Rehberg, president of Ranserve:

In general we are going to follow the waste management/recycling program offered by TDS (Texas Disposal Systems):

  1. As advised we will put all painted materials and insulation in the 40 yard dumpster.
  2. We will make plywood bins in the driveway for recyclable:  paper/cardboard and framing lumber.
  3. The paper/cardboard/plastic will go in the City of Austin recycle container weekly.
  4. The framing lumber/metals will be sent separately to TDS for recycling.
  5. All concrete, brick, masonry products and stone can be recycled.  Therefore all these materials will be recycled as well.
  6. In addition, all cabinets, counter tops, interior doors & door knobs, light fixtures, light switches and outlets, ceiling fans, kitchen appliances are being inventoried and donated to Habitat for Humanity of Austin.

Habitat

Ron from Ranserve and I met today at Emerald Hill with Charles Johnson, assistant manager at Austin Habitat and ReStore.

One of our goals is to donate as much as we can as a result of demo. I contacted Habitat to ask if they can take items from a whole house remodel — including but not limited to “ceiling fans, chandeliers, ceiling cans if you want ‘em, dishwasher, microwave, oven, hollow-core doors, door hardware, bath tubs and sinks, faucets and handles, utility and kitchen sinks, maybe the electrical parts (depending on what we discover when we open up the walls),  etc.”

For something potentially this big, they dispatch a manager — Charles.

He made it easy, telling us what Habitat will not take. It’s a very short list. Their goal now is to help get to zero waste. So they even take old water heaters to scrap, and even old HVAC compressors — items I thought would have to be trashed.

Bottom line … Ron and his team of Sawzall Surgeons will stage even the light switches in the garage for Charles and his team to collect.

I’m feeling great about this. We are donating. We are saving good items that can be recycled from the dump. People who need a ceiling fan or sink or crown molding will be able to purchase these items from Habitat/Restore, at significant savings. Habitat gets the revenue to keep operating. And we get a tax deduction.

This is the smarter way to do demo. Thank you, Habitat. Thank you, Ranserve.