Dallas Could Force Apartments, Offices to Offer Recycling

Dallas City Council members don't want to waste any more time waiting for apartment complexes and businesses to offer recycling programs.With a unanimous vote Monday, the council's Quality of Life Committee directed city staff to draft an ordinance within the next two or three months that would mandate recycling programs for multi-family properties. The committee members also want city officials to look at mandating recycling services for commercial properties, but the timeline on such an ordinance was fuzzier.The committee's strident push for mandating recycling programs at apartments came a year earlier than a previous timeline called for and after council members reviewed data on the lack of voluntary participation from apartment complexes."We call ourselves a well-managed, cutting edge city. A growth city. Lots of new business. Dallas is on fire," said council member Rickey Callahan. "Well, we need to get on fire with recycling."The decision was met without stiff pushback from the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas -- which wants to see more details -- and with backing from environmentalists such as Trammell S. Crow, the son of the famed late Dallas real estate developer."We need strong leadership," Crow said at a Monday morning news conference. "We need it at the top level."  Continue reading...