In an effort to increase efficiency and decrease costs, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has wised up to the benefits of smart trash cans, reports SmartCitiesDive.com. Waste management company, Victor Stanley, estimated the monitoring project could save the city approximately $128,000 per month.
Sensors can track how full the rubbish bins are and send a notification to the Department of Public Works that they are ready to be collected.
Relaying this information to a central location can then help Victor Stanley plan routes that make the most efficient use of resources. Pittsburgh Department of Innovation and Performance project manager, Matthew Jacob, believes cleaning up the routes will only require a staff of eight garbage collectors per day.
This innovation is great news for the city’s budget, but it may stink for the additional ten to twelve workers who could find themselves canned. However, Jacob also suggested that employees could be reassigned to other duties if they aren’t needed to empty underfilled receptacles. “The idea is not to get rid of any positions; it’s to reallocate the other public works tasks,” he said.
Pittsburgh has a bigger goal in mind than just streamlining garbage collection. It’s aiming to reduce greenhouse gas and transportation emissions by 50 percent by 2030. A study conducted by Victor Stanley estimates that reducing the time the waste collection fleet is on the road could cut Pittsburgh’s carbon dioxide output by 19,000 kg per month. Other cities, like Baltimore and Washington D.C., are also starting to employ the smart cans to address their own trash issues. Comments? Email Us.
July 25, 2019
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