Automation Showdown

4/17/2012

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To choose new collection equipment for its single-stream recycling program, Charleston County, S.C., carefully devised a head-to-head contest. 
Mike Fickes, Contributing Writer, Waste AgeMar. 25, 2012 2:58pm


While converting from dual-stream to single-stream recycling, Charleston County, S.C., and its consulting firm, Tampa-based Kessler Consulting, Inc., decided to pit two kinds of collection equipment against each other in a pilot test. The options were an automated side loader (ASL) and a front-end loader with an automated attachment called the Curotto-Can.

Charleston County brought Kessler on board in 2009 to help retool its entire solid waste program, an effort that aims to boost the county’s landfill diversion rate from its current level of 10 percent to 40 percent. “We are implementing several strategies to reach that goal,” says Don Ross, a Kessler project manager. “Measures include shifting to single-stream recycling and setting up a composting program.”

Ross himself specializes in organizing collection and transfer programs. His role in implementing Charleston County’s new strategies includes developing the equipment package for single-stream recycling.

Ross always leans toward automated collection equipment. “I’m a fan of automated collection,” he says. “ASLs make collection work safer for drivers. Instead of walking around behind the truck where another vehicle might hit them, they stay in the truck. ASLs also do the heavy lifting, and so reduce injuries.”

Maintenance Problems, Possible Solutions

Good as they are, ASLs aren’t ideal, continues Ross. “Side loaders are expensive to operate, and you need spares because there are many breakdowns. The lift-arms cycle between 1,000 to 1,200 times per day. That’s a lot, and it causes metal fatigue.”

On the lookout for ideas that might overcome ASL maintenance issues, Ross discovered Curotto-Cans at a trade show a couple years ago.

Developed by Sonoma, Calif.-based Curotto-Can, Inc., the 4.6-cu.-yd. device attaches to the fork of a front-end loader. A lift-arm on the device picks up recycling or trash containers and dumps them into the Curotto-Can. It takes five seconds to stop the truck, grip and dump a can and start moving down the street again. In addition to carts the arm can pick up bulky items like refrigerators and sofas.

After 10 to 15 lifts, the front-end loader’s fork arm empties the Curotto-Can into the truck’s hopper.

Ross liked the idea because of the front-end loader. “A front-end loader is close to bullet proof on maintenance,” he says. “Maintenance costs are low and very predictable — between $1,500 and $2,000 per month. By comparison, ASL maintenance costs are less predictable and higher, averaging around $2,500 per month.”

To earn the maintenance benefits of front-end loaders on residential routes, however, you had to buy into the Curotto-Can. Ross had no first-hand experience with the device. Neither did county officials.

“Solid waste work is local,” Ross says. “What works in Washington, D.C., may not work in San Francisco. So we knew that the Curotto-Can might or might not work in Charleston County. I suggested a pilot test pitting the best ASL we could buy against a front-end loader equipped with a Curotto-Can.”


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Garbage pickup twice a month? Seattle plans a small test in July

4/9/2012

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Picture
Image Source: http://atyourservice.seattle.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Garbage-Truck.jpg
Seattle is considering picking up garbage only every other week as a way to save money and boost recycling, and would start with 800 households this summer. 

By Lynn Thompson
Seattle Times staff reporter

Seattle is considering picking up garbage only every other week as a way to save money and boost recycling.

The city hopes to start a six-month pilot project in July involving 800 households in four demographically diverse neighborhoods. If the test proves successful, the every-other-week garbage collection could be extended citywide, although that wouldn't happen until 2015 because of labor contracts.

"We've dramatically reduced the amount of stuff we send to the landfill. We think there's an opportunity to do more," said City Councilmember Richard Conlin. He also cited reduced truck traffic and carbon emissions as potential benefits of the change.

The City Council would have to approve temporary rates for households in the pilot neighborhoods. The committee that oversees utilities will take up the issue Tuesday, but full council approval isn't expected until May.

Seattle Public Utilities officials say the test neighborhoods will be selected by mid-May. Residents in those areas must participate, but they will get a $100 stipend to offset any costs associated with the every-other-week collection, such as a larger can because of the less-frequent pickup.

The trial period will involve testing two different rate structures. The utility's goal is not to make money on the potential change but to cover its costs.

The city first floated the idea for every-other-week garbage collection in August 2010, with the pilot planned to start up last year. But the project stalled as city officials weighed the potential savings — $6 million a year — versus the operational challenges of making the change.

Utility officials say the experiences of other jurisdictions that have already gone to every-other-week collection, including Portland, Renton and Olympia, have been positive. But those cities have different rate structures and populations.

"There's no way to predict our own customers' subscription behavior," said Tim Croll, solid-waste director for Seattle Public Utilities. He said SPU would follow up to evaluate customer concerns, costs and changes to recycling patterns.

"It's not clear-cut. There's savings, but is there enough savings to make it worthwhile?" Croll asked.

Several surveys done by the utility since 2006 show that about half of Seattle residents are open to the prospect of pickup every two weeks, while half are unenthused, Croll said.

Among residents' concerns were smelly garbage standing for an extra week, a higher cost associated with a larger can, and the risk that if they forget to put out the garbage, it would be a month between pickups.

Croll notes that Seattleites have successfully diverted tons of food and yard waste from their garbage already. "Organics," as the compostables also are called, would still be collected every week.

But city officials acknowledge there are still some smelly things that can't be recycled or composted — disposable diapers and pet waste, to name two.

The pilot would run over the hottest months of summer and the most trash-intensive months of the Christmas holiday, Croll said.


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Boulder backs off bear-resistant trash bins in favor of education, 'bear pledge'

4/2/2012

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City will rely on education program rather than costly test program 
A pilot program to disperse bear-resistant trash bins in neighborhoods near Boulder's foothills has been scrapped because the budget would only allow for 33 homes to be outfitted with the costly receptacles -- and that's too small of a sample to be effective, according to city officials.

Instead, Boulder leaders plan to spend $10,000 on an educational campaign this spring -- one that will include going door-to-door to ask residents to take a "bear pledge" signaling their intention to secure their trash to prevent bears from rummaging through it, according to a city memo on the Black Bear Urban Wildlife Management Plan.


Each bear-resistant container costs roughly $225, according to the memo, which would mean the bins would be provided for just one or two city blocks. And, since bears' foraging patterns have varied from year to year, there's no guarantee they'd be highly active in the areas where the secured bins were being tested.

At the same time, officials with trash hauler Western Disposal aren't too enthusiastic about the bear-resistant bins, saying they haven't picked up in popularity among Boulder residents.

The bins resemble traditional containers but feature an inner locking mechanism that can be flipped open with a fingertip, said Western Disposal spokesman Dan Powers. And while they've proven effective, he hesitates to call them entirely "bear-proof."


Living with bears 
Black bears are curious and will east almost anything. Here's a few tips for preventing bears from visiting your neighborhood:

1. Secure your trash

2. Remove bird feeders

3. Keep barbecues clean

4. Keep pet food indoors

5. Keep garage doors closed

6. Secure windows and doors

7. Be responsible about trash and bird feeders

8. Don't leave food or trash inside your vehicle

9. Pick fruit before it ripens, clean up fallen fruit

Source: City of Aspen and Pitkin County 
A few years ago, the trash-hauling company purchased 200 of the bear-resistant bins for $40,000, said Bryce Isaacson, vice president of sales and marketing. But only 87 Boulder residents have purchased the bins -- which also cost $10 extra a month to service because it takes truck drivers longer to collect from the bins since they need to be manually opened.

"People are interested in them until they find out it costs more -- then they don't want them," Isaacson said. "The city is backing away because to go out and buy all those carts for just a small area is not economically justifiable."

A large-scale bear study in Durango includes a $250,000 budget for the distribution of bear-resistant trash bins this spring.

Valerie Matheson, Boulder's urban wildlife coordinator, said the city is interested in hearing from residents who already have the bear-resistant trash bins.

Concerns about bears

But the focus of the city's plan for dealing with black bears has shifted to be more about education. The efforts will target homes south of Arapahoe Avenue, east of Ninth Street and north of Baseline Road. Officials will begin visiting households in late April.  

Wildlife officials have reason to be concerned about bears foraging in trash cans as rangers have reported finding scat with traces of cigarette butts, aluminum foil and other household items, Matheson said.




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