Houston weighs solid waste fee as recycling complaints hit 8,000

With recycling complaints spiking and the department losing 30 workers, city leaders are seriously considering this option.

HOUSTON — As complaints over missed recycling pickups this summer have highlighted issues with Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department, calls for a potential fee to support waste collection service have grown.

311 data shows complaints of missed recycling collection spiked in June to more than 8,000 instances. Other categories like garbage and heavy trash pickups have also seen an uptick in complaints.

Solid Waste Management went through a recent leadership change in March, when former Director Mark Wilfalk resigned. Larius Hassen took over as interim director and at Wednesday’s City Council meeting shared details of what has impacted service at the department.

That includes issues like a loss of 30 staff members due to recent retirement buyout plans offered by the Whitmire administration, old routing software, an aging fleet and only one location for trucks to drop off recycling waste for processing.

But council members noted more support is needed for the department.

“Every neighboring city has a trash fee,” District I Council Member Joaquin Martinez said at Wednesday’s meeting. “I think we all know that that needs to be looked at.”

Houston is an outlier among major cities in the state for not having a solid waste fee. Money for Solid Waste Management comes out of the city’s General Fund balance. Dallas, Austin and San Antonio have fees ranging from about $14 to around $38.

KHOU 11 recently asked Houstonians experiencing delayed recycling collection if they would be open to a solid waste fee to improve service.

“Yeah, you have to do something with [recycling],” Russell Grones, who lives in Westbury, told KHOU 11. “If not, it’s going into the landfill which isn’t the best place for it.”

A 2023 survey from the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University found two-thirds of Houstonians who responded would be in favor of some kind of fee for solid waste collection. Recent smaller surveys in 2025 have also found that around 66% of city residents would be in support.

But some residents worry about the impact that could have on their own household budgets.

“We’re both retirees and we are on fixed incomes,” Mary Plail of Westbury said. “I mean, it depends if it’s outrageously expensive, probably then I would take it to the dump or recycle center or even consider not doing it.”

Daniel Potter with the Kinder Institute told KHOU 11 that survey takers said they would be open to a sliding scale for a solid waste fee to adjust for households’ income limits. Potter also said the 2023 data found the City of Houston already spends about $18 per household on solid waste which comes out of the city’s General Fund balance.

“If you added $10 dedicated [fee] on top of that, $15 dedicated on top of that, all of a sudden, the funding that we are spending here in Houston for our trash and recycling picked up is quite comparable to what is being spent elsewhere,” Potter told KHOU 11.

That approximate amount could make a big difference.

“We could anticipate that [the fee] could go a long way to helping improve, buying additional trucks, getting additional crew members, the different things that are needed to help stand up better functioning trash and recycling pickup,” Potter said.

Discussion about a fee has grown in City Hall in recent years. Council members like Joaquin Martinez have been among the most vocal, saying that in his interactions with constituents, there is an openness to a fee if it means improved service.

Solid Waste Interim Director Larius Hassen told KHOU 11 last month a solid waste fee “is going to have to come in sooner or later,” but for now is focused on an overhaul of the department.

Mayor John Whitmire has signaled discussions over a fee would likely be part of next year’s city budget planning. Whitmire has said multiple times he has wanted to first address efficiencies in departments citywide, before going to taxpayers and asking “what type of city they want to live in,” to explore ways to generate revenue for improving city services.

Last year, the City Council commissioned a study to look at ways to improve Solid Waste Management, including the potential impact of a fee.

A spokesperson for Mayor Whitmire said the results of the study will be reviewed by Solid Waste Management later this month. It will then be verified and finalized before the department briefs the mayor on the findings.