LIHU‘E — The county is slowly transitioning to automated trash collection, and now services about 50 percent of island homes. Although county officials say the system is more efficient than manual collection and that overall residents like it, some people
LIHU‘E — The county is slowly transitioning to automated trash collection, and now services about 50 percent of island homes. Although county officials say the system is more efficient than manual collection and that overall residents like it, some people are unhappy about it.
“Complaint calls have been mainly associated with missed pickups due to carts being placed too close to obstructions such as cars, telephone poles, power lines, or mailboxes,” said Allison Fraley, county Solid Waste program development coordinator.
When the program first started most complaints were about the carts — 96-gallon containers — being too large, she said. More recent complaints are about missed pickups due to truck failure. In these cases the trash is picked up later in the day or the following day.
Despite the county saying there were complaints about the carts being too large, some residents don’t feel one cart is enough. However, the current standard 96-gallon cart given by the county equals three 32-gallon containers which were allowed during the old system.
The problem is that, according to some residents, in the old system county workers would pick up extra trash left in large bags. But now with the automated pickup it doesn’t happen anymore.
A second container is available, but it costs more. The solution is to take the extra amount of trash to the dump, but this doesn’t always happen.
Cheaper
In the old system there were two collectors and a driver. In the new system there is only one driver. Fraley said the new system saves the county money despite taking three hours more than the old system to complete a route.
“The automated collection system has also allowed the county to avoid overtime costs by transitioning from a labor contract limit of 600 collection units per manual collection route to 1,000 refuse cart limit routes for the automated collection truck,” she said. “Also, improved/safer working conditions under the automated system will lower the county’s workman’s compensation cost over time by reducing new injury claims under the operation.”
Fraley said many other municipalities which have transitioned to automated collection systems have realized reduced workman’s compensation claims.
“We, therefore, anticipate the same results on Kaua‘i,” she said.
Spills
A long arm on the right side of the truck grabs the cart and tips it over the top of a small compactor. If there are any spills, the driver is responsible for picking it up, said Fraley, adding that a spillage is “an extremely rare occurrence.”
However, on Tuesday morning a Kapahi resident witnessed two failed trash dumps within minutes of each other.
In the first spillage the entire contents of the cart, which was full, spilled in front of the resident’s driveway. The driver got out and picked up most of the trash, leaving behind a few flyers that blew down the street and a gallon-size plastic bag full of dog waste, which broke open upon hitting the asphalt.
The resident said she followed the rules and put the dog stool inside a plastic bag and tied it up. The driver then drove to the next spot and while tipping over a cart, some contents fell outside the compactor and onto the street. The driver again got out and cleaned most of it. After he was gone, another resident came outside and swept what the driver left on the street.
Swing shift
When the truck left, a third resident came out and complained about the time the truck came around, approximately at noon. He said he has been told by the county to put his cart across the street, lined up with his neighbors’ carts. When the truck comes late in the day, he is unable to retrieve his cart until he comes back from work. In the old trash collection system, the county would come before dawn; now the schedule changes weekly, he said.
Fraley said the residents are responsible for ensuring that all trash fits in the closed cart, and if anyone sees a driver not addressing spilled trash they should call her office. In the incident Monday, the residents said their carts were fully closed.
The schedule and routes are generally established, Fraley said, but there may be variations if there is a replacement driver.
“We’re still working on route efficiencies, so sometimes our drivers test different paths to find the optimal route,” she added.
The county on July 1 started charging residents a monthly fee, which is being added to their property tax bill. The monthly fee starts at a base rate of $6, plus another $6 for a cart. Additional costs and exemptions are available depending on circumstances set by the county.
Visit www.kauai.gov/publicworks/solidwaste for more information.
