After negotiation and an executive session, the Austin City Council rejected all of the proposals to build a new single-stream recycling center.

"I don't believe that this current [request for proposal] process resulted in proposals that I'm ready to support, and so I would like to see that again we begin some sort of different process," council member Randi Shade said.

City staff had recommended Allied Waste Services for the job, but Texas Campaign for the Environment fought against that recommendation.

Activists do not want Allied Waste Services to get the contract, due to concerns about the way AWS operates the Browning Ferris Industry, or BFI, Landfill in northeast Austin.

A request by BFI/Allied Waste to expand was met by resistance from neighbors and environmentalists. BFI/Allied Waste was later granted an expansion permit by the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality.

"My hope as a citizen of Austin would be that a local company that has a good record in the waste management business would be rewarded this contract," Austin resident Lisa Hotchkiss said.

Austin's contract with Greenstar, which processes recycling in a San Antonio plant, is set to run out Sept. 30.

City council will consider extending the contract at its next meeting.

Customers will face no change in the program, its schedule or its rates.