Coventry Town Manager, Council Members Talk Trash During Work Session

Coventry Town Manager Thomas Hoover presented to Council members and residents during a work session Monday night, a proposed pilot program to test automated trash and recycling collection. 

Under the program, town-issued trash and recycling barrels would be lifted at the curb and emptied into automated sanitation trucks equipped with mechanical arms. 

Currently, refuse collectors from the Town's Public Works Department utilize a one-man operation using a side-loader truck. Hoover explained that while efficient, the operation is hard manual work lending itself to job injury and safety concerns. Automated collection is also a one-man job, however the truck's automatic arm would safely load a specific container into its trash compactor. Unless there is a need to move containers, the operation can be performed with the collector ever having to leave the truck.

"The most frequent on-the-job issue with an automated truck is carpal tunnel surgery," said Hoover. "We could save a lot of money in workman's comp claims and injury to our employees."

Along with safety considerations, Hoover stated during his presentation that automated collection would also mean overall reduced costs such as manpower and potential liability, increased collection efficiency per stop, ability to serve more households per route, neater neighborhoods on collection day and easier set-out for residents. In addition, automated collection would reduce the Town's landfill tipping fees and boost recycling profit-sharing. It would also afford the Town an opportunity to consider every-other-week collection - another cost-saving measure.

Hoover's proposed 6-month pilot program would consist of renting two automated collection trucks at a cost of $92,500. It would also include a cost of $54,000 to rent 3,000 wheeled containers; 1,500 of which would be 48 gallons to collect refuse and 1,500 being 96 gallons to receive recyclables. These containers would be provided to residents at no cost. The program would eliminate the current 'No Bin, No Barrel' policy on automated routes, as the 96-gallon recycling container may not be able to be filled every week. An automated system would also allow the trucks to dump just one compacted load per day directly at the RI Resource Recovery Corporation landfill in Johnson, eliminating the need to contract for compacting and hauling at Coventry's transfer station.

In order to monitor the pilot program, Hoover suggested that two refuse routes be utilized twice a week on streets both curbed and uncurbed to determine the effectiveness of the automated trucks in both scenarios. The first recommended route consists of 609 stops in the Harris neighborhood of Town, which contains many uncurbed streets. The second is 596 stops in Wood Estates North, selected for its mostly curbed streets. In addition, Town Manager Hoover resides in this area of Coventry, a fact that would provide him with firsthand knowledge and experience in regards to the program's effectiveness.

Following his presentation, Council members unanimously approved a resolution allowing Hoover to prepare for the pilot program and schedule a public hearing for interested citizens to provide input. If ultimately approved, the pilot would likely begin by Jan. 1, 2014 and run through June 30, 2014. If favorably received by residents on pilot routes and the rest of the community, Hoover plans to place a Bond Referendum on the Nov. 2014 election ballot to approve funding for a town-wide automated program. 

Over 20 years, a fully-automated refuse program would cost the Town of Coventry approximately $5 million, and present a total savings during that time of $2.62 million.

If implemented, Coventry will fund the pilot program using its Resource Recovery Corporation recycling profit-sharing account, which may only be used for advancing the community's recycling program.