Houston officials say storms, staffing and route strain drove heavy-trash backlog; department unveils interactive tracking

Houston — Director Mark Wilfalk, director of the City of Houston Solid Waste Department, told the City Council Service Delivery Committee on Tuesday that a series of storms, rising participation and limited staffing and equipment have combined to push the department behind on heavy-trash and curbside recycling collection.

"We have the responsibility of servicing over 420,000 homes. We directly service right at about 400,000," Wilfalk said, describing the scale of operations and the pressure on routes and crews. He said the department’s available heavy-trash collection capacity is roughly 30,000 tons per month but that volumes have exceeded 40,000 tons in recent months, producing delays.

Why it matters: The backlog has produced repeated complaints across council districts, strained front-line crews and prompted council members to press the department for clearer schedules, better communications and options — including increased contracting, route redesign and a consultant study due soon.

Wilfalk told the committee the department’s recycling throughput is also stretched. He said curbside recycling capacity is about 72,000 tons per year but that staffing and equipment shortfalls have forced crews to work extra days and reduced efficiency. "We have to build more redundancy, more resiliency in our system," he said.

The presentation and committee discussion outlined causes and near-term steps rather than formal policy…