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Tulsa collection facility posts record customers, outlines building and service changes
Summary
City staff reported a record year at the City of Tulsa household collection facility, with 4,272 customers and 381,890 pounds collected; staff proposed facility, staffing and schedule changes and described recent operational incidents including a mulch-site fire and temporary shutdowns.
The Tulsa Authority for the Recovery of Energy heard a report on March 25 from the citycollection facility manager on annual operations, usage and planned changes at the household hazardous-waste and collection facility.
This last year was the best year we've ever had at the collection facility, we had 4,272 customers and we collected 381,890 pounds of pollutants, the manager said. The presentation compared current figures with 2019 and showed increases in customers, pounds collected and revenue.
The report said customer demand has grown substantially since 2019: customers rose from about 2,635 in 2019 to 4,272 in the latest year, and total pounds collected rose from about 231,000 to 381,890. Staff said March is typically the busiest month and highlighted the programswap shop, which distributed 12,008 items this year compared with 951 in 2019. Staff also reported roughly 83,403 pounds of latex paint collected and noted that latex paint is water-soluble and not classified as hazardous waste but is accepted as a public service.
Staff described operational incidents and constraints. The mulch/land-reclamation site experienced an off-site fire that spread onto the facility; staff temporarily shut operations and staged fire watches until flare-ups were controlled. The mulch operation received far more commercial deliveries (12,588 cubic yards) than residential (2,888 cubic yards) in the period reported; staff also said winter weather reduced contractor traffic earlier in the season but that volumes increased when the site reopened.
Revenue and staffing details were part of the presentation. Annual revenue for the facility nearly doubled compared with the earlier baseline year, rising to nearly $70,000 from about $34,000 in 2019, with customer payments the primary source. The report noted a shortfall in staff hours compared with prior years and said the department is requesting an additional employee in the FY27 budget to restore historical staffing levels and to meet a new stormwater permit requirement to open one additional day per week.
Facility improvements discussed included better ventilation/large fans, building insulation or climate control for the large pole-barn structure, and reconfiguring entry and exit points to reduce reliance on paid security at peak times. Staff said a longer-term site rebuild that Stormwater is pursuing could enable separate entry and exit gates and reduce on-site traffic conflicts.
Staff also said the MET (the metropolitan partner program) renewal agreement is in legal review; the current MET arrangement allows nonresident municipalities to bring material up to a specified allowance and pay a per-pound rate for materials above that allowance.
Staff closed by emphasizing the continuing growth in public use of the facility and thanked the board for support. The board asked follow-up questions about web traffic to the facilityweb page, the fan/ventilation options and the timing of a potential new headquarters project.
The report is available in more detail in the board packet; staff said they will return next month with updated March production numbers and further budget-related requests.
