The City of La Porte's Solid Waste supervisor presented an overview of department operations to the City Council on Nov. 11, reporting staffing levels, service counts and safety initiatives.

"We've got 27 staff members," the supervisor said, and described the department's roles: one superintendent, five rear-load drivers, 10 solid-waste workers and 10 heavy-trash drivers. For residential heavy-trash service the city serves 12,772 homes divided into six collection zones, with each home receiving 16 collections per year.

For fiscal year 2024, the department reported collecting 55,224 cubic yards that went to the landfill and 17,328 cubic yards of brush that are ground into mulch and kept out of the landfill. Residential garbage totaled 12,855 tons for FY24, and recycling totals for the year included 8 tons of plastic, 14 tons of glass, roughly 11,689 (transcript figure) pounds/units of aluminum as recorded in the presentation, and 93 tons of paper and cardboard.

The supervisor also described the department's participation in the Texas Municipal League's Road Ready safety program and explained holiday-collection practices: when a holiday affects a collection day the department adds trucks and collects on the next scheduled collection day to catch up. The presentation included examples of on-route assistance and a recognition program for employees who receive "kudos" from residents.

Councilmembers thanked staff, asked about special pickups on holidays and received confirmation that the department usually double-ups trucks the next collection day to clear missed service.