December 9, 2025 Quality of Life Committee Meeting Summary

The final Quality of Life Committee meeting of 2025 focused on recycling updates and the expansion of residential curbside recycling in New Orleans. Hosted by Councilmember Harris, the meeting featured presentations from Glass Half Full and Department of Sanitation officials regarding new facilities, historical diversion rates, and a proposed federal grant-funded transition to an opt-out recycling model. The discussion highlighted significant disparities in recycling access across neighborhoods, the importance of waste literacy for public health and equity, and the urgency of utilizing specific EPA grant funding by March 31, 2026.

Consent Calendar

• Minutes Approval: The minutes from the previous meeting were adopted via voice vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Councilmember Harris: Expressed full support for Glass Half Full, encouraging residents to utilize the drop-off locations on Louisa Street (Johnny Jr. Boulevard) for glass recycling and highlighting the community building aspects of the facility.
• Councilmember Green: Expressed gratitude to Glass Half Full for filling a void in private sector recycling efforts; stated they personally changed their consumption from plastic to glass due to the organization's efforts and confirmed that Glass Half Full has a drop-off location at City Hall.
• Brett Davis (Executive Director, Grounds Crew): Expressed full support for expanding residential recycling, countering the narrative that residents do not want recycling bins; argued that community demand is high and that expanding recycling is a quality of life, public health, and economic win.
• Michael Essa (Student/Concerned Citizen): Expressed full support for flipping the script on recycling as a justice issue; noted the disparity where wealthy and white neighborhoods receive service while predominantly Black and working-class areas do not; stated that all residents pay for the service and that haulers must abide by their contracts, specifically supporting the "Feeding on the Street" education program.
• Online Comment (Ronnie La NASA): Expressed strong opposition to spending five million dollars on plastic trash cans; argued the city must prioritize twice-weekly garbage collection at the lowest possible cost and warned against spending on glass recycling for marine habitats, calling it waste.

Discussion Items

• Glass Half Full Presentation (Francisca Troutman):

  • Announced the March 2025 opening of a three-acre glass recycling facility in Chalmette with the capacity to process 500,000 beer bottles daily.
  • Outlined the production of sand for coastal restoration and "Cull It" for the bottle-making industry, noting a diversion of over 12 million pounds of glass and 1 million pounds of other recyclables.
  • Proposed expanding free drop-off locations to areas like Lakeview and Gentilly.
  • Expressed full support for expanding the curbside residential recycling program to include glass, citing equal access concerns while acknowledging the need for education regarding contamination.

• Department of Sanitation/OOS Presentation (Matt Torrey & Chris Lang):

  • Current Landscape: Stated that despite a 1990 projection of a 25% diversion rate, New Orleans remains at a 2% landfill diversion rate (98% to landfill) in 2025.
  • Equity & Access: Highlighted that 58% of households (92,000 of 160,000) have not opted into recycling, disproportionately affecting Black neighborhoods and low-wealth households; argued that the current opt-in model forces residents to subsidize a service they do not receive.
  • Proposal: Discussed the plan to use a $5.3 million EPA grant to transition from an opt-in to an opt-out model, covering 100% of single-family residences.
  • Contamination Mitigation: Detailed the "Feeding on the Street" program (4-week tagging initiative) and in-mold labels on carts to reduce contamination, drawing parallels to success in Louisville.
  • Pilot Program: Proposed a pilot deploying 10,000 carts across four service areas to test contamination rates against a 34% regional average threshold before full rollout.
  • Contractual Concerns: Noted that waste haulers (IB Waste, Waste Pro) have expressed opposition to the opt-out pilot, citing lack of local processing capacity and labor concerns, and preferred continuing the opt-in model.

• Councilmember Green's Query: Expressed concern regarding contract enforcement; questioned whether the administration is willing to renegotiate hauler contracts to enforce the pilot and metrics, warning against assuming federal funds will remain available given the budget deficit.

• Councilmember King's Commentary: Expressed that the city controls the contracts and has the leverage to require haulers to participate in the pilot and implement "Feeding on the Street" if they are not already contractually obligated to do so; suggested creative public service messaging involving children to drive household participation.

Key Outcomes

• No Formal Vote Taken: The committee did not cast a vote on the proposed opt-out expansion or the pilot program; Councilmember Harris moved to adjourn the meeting.
• Directives to Administration: Councilmembers directed the Department of Sanitation to return to the committee to discuss specific strategies for renegotiating hauler contracts to enforce the proposed pilot program and ensure contract adherence regarding contamination protocols.
• Next Steps Identified: The Department of Sanitation must proceed with selecting a contractor for the Solid Waste Master Plan and is urged to finalize the cart procurement contract as the current one has expired, while preparing to address the March 31, 2026 grant deadline.