SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

Atlas Organics is paid by the City of San Antonio to turn green waste into reusable compost that residents can turn around and buy to use on their gardens, this process helps reduce the use of landfill.

San Antonio Express-News file photoSan Antonio's Solid Waste Management Department has multiple sites for tree disposal throughout January. Six spots dotting San Antonio are ready to take real Christmas trees off the hands of holiday revelers to be recycled. To take advantage of the recycling opportunity, dropped off trees must be free of lights and decorations and must not be in bags. The disposal sites are not accepting wreaths and garlands.

SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio City Council this month agreed to pay a man more than $200,000 after his vehicle was rear-ended in 2018 by a large truck driven by a Solid Waste Management Department employee. John Brubeck, who according to a 2019 lawsuit suffered “severe injuries” to his neck and lower back during the September 2018 wreck, will be paid $206,000 to settle the case. The settlement will be paid out of the city’s self-insurance liability fund, according to a council agenda announcing the agreement. In naming the city as a co-defendant in the case, attorneys for Brubeck wrote that the city should have known Garcia was reckless, incompetent and unfit to drive. City officials declined to comment on the settlement but did confirm Garcia remains employed by SWMD and currently works as a mechanic.

SAN ANTONIO – City of San Antonio solid waste employees were repeatedly captured on camera interacting with one another and the public while not wearing masks. A Solid Waste Management Department enters a city van Sept. 10 while not using a face covering. Days later, as SWMD employees handed out flyers in neighborhoods near Judson Road and Stahl Road, undercover cameras again captured footage of them violating COVID-19 protocols. Dillon Collier attempts to speak to a Solid Waste Management Department employee on Sept. 15. From April 1 to mid-September, at least 52 SWMD employees have contracted COVID-19, according to figures provided by the spokesperson.