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City Ignores Weird Name Ideas for Solid Waste Services

Photo by KUT

When the city polled people online for a name to replace “Solid Waste Services Department”, Austinites came up with some whimsical suggestions: The Ministry of Filth, the Department of Neat and Clean, and Keep Austin Wasted. 

The suggestion with the most votes honored the lead singer of metal rap band Limp Bizkit: the Fred Durst Society of the Humanities and Arts.

Did you really think the city would choose one of those names? Of course you didn’t. Instead it went with this one: Austin Resource Recovery.

“The path we’re taking is quite unique. I don’t see it anywhere in the country,” Austin Resource Recovery director Bob Geddert said. “We’re taking the Austin way of doing things and keeping Austin weird.”

That may be the case for the city’s zero waste plan. But the name “Resource Recovery” is already in use cities and counties across the country.

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion-dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on X @KUTnathan.