By now every residence within the City of Bedford should have received a new blue trash can, also known as a toter. Some people love them, some hate them, but most don’t seem to care either way.
The City of Bedford spent a great deal of time researching trash collection systems. The goal was to identify a new method of trash collection that would reduce costs. This became a crucial effort once the impact of property tax changes implemented by the Indiana State Legislature were realized.
The Findings: Fully automated trash collection was the safest for city workers, most cost-effective and most efficient option available. The city also researched the results in other communities. What we found was very positive. Indiana cities that have implemented automated trash collection include Seymour, Muncie, and Columbus, as well as others. The city of Muncie, Indiana went to automated trash collection in 2000 and they have experienced overwhelming success. In an article titled Adventures in Automation as published in the February 2002 addition of Waste Age (http://wasteage.com/mag/waste_adventures_automation/) the outcomes in Muncie, as well as Bernardino, California; Lakeville, Minnesota; and McMinnville, Tennessee are discussed. During a Bedford City Council meeting Mr. Bobby Smith, the Muncie Sanitation Department Superintendent, shared his experience in Muncie. The findings as presented by Bobby in that meeting and in the magazine article include the following:
1. Increased number of homes served by one employee
2. Cleaner appearance of neighborhoods because trash is no longer on the ground
3. Reductions in payroll and personnel costs (64 employees in 1997 to 48 today)
4. Reduced injuries to workers (“no more back injuries”)
5. Reduced workers’ comp claims (from $364,000 in 1997 to $42,000 in 2005)
6. Positive reception from the public (“They (toters) went from being perceived as big green monsters, to great little army men making the neighborhood look cleaner”.)
Using the traditional method of trash collection where three people work on a packer truck (one driving and two throwing trash into the back of the truck), the city has operated 2 daily routes for a total of 10 routes per week and six employees working on trash duty per day. Under the new system one employee will operate a fully automated truck that will pick up nearly all of the household trash for the city. Most importantly injuries to our workers will decrease.
The City of Bedford like Muncie has experienced a disproportionate number of work related injuries in the Street Department. During 2009 employees in the Street Department experienced nearly four times the number of recordable injuries as in the Police and Fire Department combined. Even more concerning is the fact that 98% of these injuries required, at the direction of a doctor, time away from work or time at work with restrictions.
To successfully implement the new trash collection system some trash pickup is being moved from alleys to the street. This improves the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of trash pickup. In many instances the same street has both curb side and alley trash pickup. This increases the time needed to pick up trash, which will be a major problem when the automated truck is being used throughout the city starting late February 2010. This does not mean that alleys are not important. In fact, alleys will be utilized to store toters and household trash during the week prior to and after scheduled trash collection days since toters should not be left on the street.
When trash pickup is moved from the alley to the street some have asked, “Will parked cars hinder the use of the automated truck?” I asked the same question and during demonstrations of the automated truck and toters found that city streets in residential neighborhoods are mostly vacant after 8:00 AM. In fact, the majority of parked cars on residential streets are there between 5:00 PM and 8:00 AM because the majority of residents go to work or school each day during the week. Accordingly, areas of town where cars park on the streets will have their trash picked up later in the day making toters accessible to the automated truck.
Others wonder where their toter should be placed when their trash pickup is moved to the street. Trash toters should be placed at the corner of the driveway, which keeps the toter away from parked cars and accessible to the automated truck. If this is not possible residents should place their toter as close to their driveway as possible. If you do not have a driveway you should place your toter directly in front of your home in a location that is as far from parked cars as possible. If you cannot place your toter away from cars due to residential parking please place it as close to the curb as possible so that once people leave their home for their daily activities the toter is accessible to the automated truck.
Individuals that have physical challenges that make them unable to move their trash toter to the street may contact the utilities office to request a smaller trash toter and special assistance. Persons that request assistance will have their container marked and a city worker will remove the trash from beside or behind the home. To request assistance residents should call 279-9222.
Overall the biggest obstacle to successful implementation of the new automated trash system is resistance to change. Change is hard. None of us like to change but to make our city a cleaner place to live, reduce the cost of sanitation services, and most importantly to protect the health and safety of Sanitation Department workers, please help by:
1. Following the instructions provided to you when you received your blue toter.
2. If you have questions visit the city website at www.bedford.in.us/ and click on the Quick Links or the Utilities Department tab to review Frequently Asked Questions.
3. If your questions are not covered on the city website please call and speak to a staff member at 279-9222 or email bedfordsanitation@comcast.net
4. Remember that automated trash collection is protecting sanitation workers from harmful injuries and reducing the expense of sanitation services.
5. Give it time. It takes 21 days to break an old habit or create a new one.