By Spencer Sterritt

Nanaimo’s highly anticipated automated garbage program rolling out

Apr 5, 2017 | 2:00 PM

NANAIMO — After sitting in a lot for months, two automated garbage trucks will soon hit the streets of Nanaimo.

An in-camera decision to move towards automation of solid waste collection was announced by Council earlier this week.

According to Charlotte Davis, sanitation manager with the City of Nanaimo, the two trucks were bought for more than $800,000 in 2015, arrived in August 2016, but weren’t put into action because City Council pumped the brakes on the partial roll out to wait for findings in the core review. 

As part of the transition to automation, Davis said residents will be provided three new bins. That will cost taxpayers between $3.5 and $4 million.

“We do expect user rates to increase during the first three to five years where we’re paying off those investments. After that point, user rates will drop back down again.”

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Currently, the average user in Nanaimo pays $101 a year for solid waste collection. Davis said the City will also save about $800,000 per year in the long run by taking recycling collection in-house.

A major factor behind the move to automation was to cut down on injuries to truck drivers. According to the 2016 core review, injuries cost the City more than $400,000 from 2012 to 2014.

Now, instead of getting down from the cab and lifting garbage, drivers will pilot an automated arm on the truck to pick up the bins.

Davis said this will considerably cut down on injury rates for garbage staff.

“Our injuries have been quite extensive. 100 per cent of the permanent work force had been injured during their job, so everybody at some point in time had been injured doing what they were doing.”

New bins will be handed out in two phases and the fleet of automated trucks will eventually be increased to eight. Davis didn’t have a clear timeline for full implementation of the program.

She said the City will host numerous open houses about the conversion over the coming months and a detailed project plan is expected later this month. A city release indicated a plan to incorporate yard waste collection will also be put forward.

Full implementation, including purchase of the rest of the fleet, is expected to cost roughly $7 million.

spencer.sterritt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit