During the derecho and then Beryl, many of Houston’s large trees fell.
These trees and limbs were cut up and placed at the curb, in huge piles.
Big black trucks came and scooped up the piles, then took them to temporary processing centers. One center is at the location of the old grain storage silos, near Beltway 8 and Interstate 10 intersections. There are several other centers with similar huge piles of trees.
At the processing centers, the piles were shredded into finer pieces, and then hauled off to its final destination.
Mark Wilfalk, Director of the City of Houston Solid Waste, said that some is going to incinerators as boiler fuel, or used as landfill cover.
According to Rene Schwartz, Solid Waste Public Information Officer, in an email on August 16, FEMA has specific requirements for disposal, for safety reasons, and Houston needs to follow the guidelines. The temporary processing sites are carefully managed, keeping down the dust, and monitored 24/7. All of the material will be reused somehow, composting, landfill layering, or mulching.
From last year's drought, and this year's storms, many mature trees have been lost. Go plant a tree!