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Measuring and Improving Waste Diversion is Key to Sustainability Initiatives

Action Plans for

Municipalities, Universities & Military Bases

Presented by Alan Housley Creative Microsystems, Inc

October 2014 (Rev1. March 2014)

Measuring and Improving Waste Diversion Page ii

Table of Contents

1. Introduction 1

Environmental Sustainability 1

Why have sustainability initiatives become so important to Municipalities, Universities and Military

Bases? 2

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) 2

U.S is the Largest Waste Creator on Earth 2

United States Landfill Space is Dramatically Limited 3

2. The Only Solution – Waste Diversion! 4

Waste Diversion Best Practices 4

MSW Avoidance Save$ – Even for Small Cities and University Campuses 6

Measuring Waste Diversion 8

Simple Waste Diversion Math 9

Accuracy of Reporting is Key 9

3. The Waste Diversion Solution – Waste Measurement Automation 10

Software Automation is the Key 10

Ideal Load Management Software 10

Locating Waste Carts / Bins / Dumpsters 11

Waste Diversion Charts 11

Deep Mining of Data 13

Simple-to-Use Actionable Data Analytics 13

4. On-board Truck Scales 16

Summary 17

Appendix A 19

About the Author 20

References

Measuring and Improving Waste Diversion Page 1

Measuring and Improving Waste Diversion is Key to Sustainability Initiatives

Action Plans for

Municipalities, Universities & Military Bases

Presented by Alan Housley Creative Microsystems, Inc

October 2014

Introduction 1.This paper will focus on the subject of Waste Diversion, a critical component to reducing waste, ridding our environment of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and lowering the carbon footprint of each and every individual who contributes to the waste stream. This paper will cover some history of what has driven a vision of “Zero Waste”, projects that are underway, challenges and successes, and the real and achievable future that lies ahead. Furthermore, to achieve these highly visible goals, especially in municipalities, universities and military bases, this paper offers direction on best practices for measuring waste diversion and the resulting GHG reductions. Anyone who is responsible for sustainability programs in their institution, municipality, business, university or military base should benefit from this paper to further their understanding of waste diversion and how it will affect their CO2/GHG reduction programs, goals and operating costs.

Environmental Sustainability The phrase “zero waste” is being discussed seriously in municipalities, universities and military bases. Zero waste programs are being implemented in facilities, towns, cities, campuses and businesses all over the world. Zero waste is real and it is achievable. These sustainability initiatives range from lighting and energy management, storm water cleanliness programs, green home building guidelines, educational programs, waste reduction and recycling, construction and demolition waste limits and refuse derived fuel (RDF).

Beautification Act of 1965

Lady Bird Johnson During the Johnson administration, Lady Bird Johnson was instrumental in the passage of the Beautification Act of 1965. While this Act focused on billboards and junk yards, it was also a key catalyst in creating a whole new world of litter awareness. So when we see blogs, nonprofit websites, newspaper articles, and company taglines displaying tributes like “Save our Climate”, “Please Don’t Litter”, and “Zero Waste”, we can trace back 50 years and thank the First Lady for her vision.


Googling “Zero Waste” ten years ago, you would have received 245 search results. Today, you’ll find over 1.32 million search results. This skyrocketing metric is being driven by state mandates, local municipalities with aggressive environmental sustainability and carbon reduction programs, as well as universities and our U.S. military bases.

There are nearly 3,500 county governments and over 36,000 municipalities1 (cities, towns, townships) in the United States. Not all, but most of these cities and counties have some type of Environmental Sustainability Report/Plan. Six or seven years ago, these sustainability plans were mostly a paper exercise that would be reported to a council and literally gather dust for a couple years until someone was tasked to update it to meet some mandate or other annual planning exercise. Today, these same Environmental Sustainability Reports & Plans are guiding documents whose main purpose is to drive the reduction of GHG (Carbon Footprint) – at even greater dramatic rates.

Why have sustainability initiatives become so important to Municipalities, Universities and Military Bases?

• Saves money Increasingly higher landfill fees for municipal solid waste (MSW)

• Saves precious resources Water, trees, open land and fuel; Improved living environment for residents, businesses and business consumers

• Reduces greenhouse gases Meet state, county and city mandates for reducing carbon footprint

• Creates green jobs It takes 10 people to recycle material, compared to one person to dispose of it2

• Progressive municipal branding Attracting businesses and residents

• Less landfill space Greater availability of municipal recycling facilities (MRFs)

• Setting the example And engaging communities3

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Trash, garbage, waste can be categorized in many ways, and the most common categories are:

Solid Waste Material -- more commonly known as trash or garbage—consists of everyday items we use and then throw away, such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, even hazardous waste like batteries and paint. This comes from our homes, schools, hospitals, campuses and businesses. (Note that many items listed here will be found in solid waste, but the need is to divert much of this current solid waste material away from landfills and toward the next two categories.)

Recyclable Material -- paper, glass, plastic, fabrics, and metals from the trash that can be used to make new products, reducing the amount of virgin raw materials needed.

Compost Material -- organic waste, such as food scraps and yard trimmings that can then be used for creating fertilizer products.4

U.S is the Largest Waste Creator on Earth The United States has the dubious distinction of leading the world in MSW.5 According to the USEPA, nearly 250 million tons, or 4.4 pounds per person per day, of MSW was generated in 2010. The amount of MSW generated has changed significantly since 1960 when only 88.1 million tons (2.7 pounds per person per day6) of MSW were generated – nearly a 300% increase in 50 years.7


Figure 1. US MSW Generated (USEPA 2010)

United States Landfill Space is Dramatically Limited

While the world watches the U.S. creating 250 million tons of MSW, we’ve witnessed a huge reduction in landfill availability. In 1970, there were around 20,000 landfills. Today that number has dropped by over 90% to just over 1900 MSW landfills in 20101 (see Figure 2).Figure 2. Number of USA Landfills (USEPA 2010) No matter how sharp the pencil, the numbers just won’t work. A 300% growth in MSW in 50 years and only 10% of the 1970 landfills remain 40 years later.4 Note that most of the lost MSW landfill space has come about because of necessary and stringent USEPA guidelines for safe landfills that will not leachate our underground water sources. Many of these abandoned landfills were created for each city or township and many have been removed by direction of the USEPA1.

1 Some reports state over 3500 landfills in 2010, but many of these are used exclusively for Construction and Demolition.

Others in this number are “inactive”. The EPA 2010 number is a census of “active” landfills for MSW.

88.1

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Figure 2. Number of USA Landfills (USEPA 2010)

The clear problem faced with everyone (citizen, municipality, businesses large and small, campuses, military bases, and so on), is that there is no way to fit a 300% growth in MSW into a 90% smaller landfill.

The Only Solution – Waste Diversion! 2.Waste diversion, as defined by the USEPA, is the prevention and reduction of generated waste through source reduction, recycling, reuse, or composting.8 Not only does waste diversion solve the huge inequity between MSW and landfill space, but it also provides profitable streams of waste materials that are processed at MRFs – both public and private.

In its simplest form, waste diversion is the separating of MSW components into three different waste streams: solid waste, recyclable material and compost material. Nearly all waste diversion starts at homes and businesses where waste is separated for curbside cart and dumpster pickup. But this simple process does not work as well as it should – even with thousands of direct public education and awareness programs delivered by waste haulers, municipalities and institutions who are chartered with their community’s waste disposal. To assist, municipal public works and private businesses have dramatically grown recycling streams with extraordinary services and processes that make the waste/landfill inequity manageable.

Waste Diversion Best Practices Studying the waste and recycling programs from leading municipalities and other institutions across the nation leads to a list of best practices.

Recycling must be mandated – first within state/city/county government(s) to learn and to set the example to the public. Grass roots programs once drove awareness in the 80’s and 90’s, but results

20,000

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Number of Landfills USEPA 2010


have proven that mandatory recycling has most effectively changed the habits of individuals, homes and businesses.

Variable rate systems – the larger the waste can/bin/cart, the greater the customer’s service cost.

Set the customer service cost to the size of the solid waste can, and provide all recycling and composting carts/bins and their pick-ups for free.

Ban any recycled material or compost from the solid waste can (and vice versa). Maybe even banning any pick-ups where waste and recycled material are comingled.

Establish an Office of Grants for raising needed capital from public and private funding of waste diversion programs.

Most recycling mandates are quite simple. First, the municipality/haulers provide curbside carts (dumpsters for businesses) for the separation of the three waste materials. In most successful communities, the cans are set out for solid waste (landfill destinations), recycling (MRF destinations) and compost/organics (MRF destinations). To further drive down the amount of waste carried to the landfill, residents and businesses are receiving smaller and smaller waste cans; and/or their waste is only picked up bi-weekly. These container and pick-up tactics are forcing customers to rethink their own home and business waste habits. And if a customer still demands greater solid waste capacity by ordering larger bins, then they are charged a premium service rate/fee.

The ban on comingling waste is fairly new. If a recyclable or compostable item is found in the solid waste container, then some cities will refuse pickup or even fine the customer. This new ordinance has recently made headlines in Seattle, where zero waste is a committed goal.

The Seattle city council has voted to impose fees for not composting. When the ordinance goes into effect next year, homeowners found with food scraps in their trash container will be fined $1 for each violation. The fine is up to $50 for a business or apartment complex. Under the new rules, collectors will take a look when they dump trash into a garbage truck. If they see more than 10 percent of the trash that should be composted, they'll enter the violation into a computer and leave a ticket on the bin that says expect a $1 fine on the next garbage bill. Or they may even have their service skipped completely.9

San Francisco Recycling Mandates In 1989 California approved the California Integrated Waste Management Act, which has been the template for state mandates across the United States. This action requires cities and counties to “reduce, reuse and recycle (including composting) solid waste generated in the state to the maximum extent feasible before incineration or landfill disposal of waste to conserve water, energy and other natural resources, and to protect the environment. AND, the plan calls for a goal of “zero waste.10”

From this state mandate, San Francisco has fully embraced zero waste by setting the goal to “send nothing to landfill or incineration. We create policies that reduce waste, and increases access to recycling and composting. San Francisco is doing everything we can to make it happen.”11


The Results? In 2010 San Francisco exceeded its goal to divert 75% of materials away from landfills. They are now well on their way to 100% landfill waste reduction by 2020.

12

Los Angeles Diversion Benefits In addition to diverting waste and converting a portion of the waste stream into renewable energy, other benefits are realized:

Drastic reduction in truck and rail transportation and their associated air quality and traffic congestion impacts.

Conservation of limited, virgin resources

Creation of construction jobs and permanent operational “green collar” jobs at Municipal Recycling Facilities.13

MSW Avoidance Save$ – Even for Small Cities and University Campuses Small changes in waste diversion can make a significant impact on any solid waste budget. Waste diversion programs are being introduced in small cities, universities and military bases. Colleges and Universities who are implementing aggressive waste diversion programs (or currently bringing-up their processes) are:

Harvard University Yale University

University of Washington University of Virginia

University of Pennsylvania Towson University

Loyola University University of California Santa Barbara

University of California Santa Cruz Montana State University

University of Washington Seattle

The University Of Washington Seattle Campus (43,600 students) adopted an aggressive diversion program from waste landfills in 2009. They have saved over $5 million in landfill costs over the past five (5) years.14


Figure 3. University of Washington Landfill Diversion Cost Savings

13

American University Sustainability Policy and Goals 15

In Washington D.C, the American University policy is to protect and restore our environment by managing material flows through the university and manage waste/ recycling processes.

The University will strive to send zero waste to landfills and incinerators by the year 2020.

By July 31, 2013, reuse, recycle or compost 50% of ongoing consumables,

By December 31, 2015, reduce solid waste by 10%, and divert 90% of solid waste from being sent to landfills and incineration

By December 31, 2020, reduce waste by an additional 10% and send zero waste to landfill and incineration

$795,884

$892,007

$966,033

$1,229,505 $1,205,941

$600,000

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Landfill Diversion Cost Savings University of Washington - Seattle


Cities and municipalities are also stepping-up and establishing aggressive timelines and goals.16

Municipality Population Served

Goals / Metrics

Alameda County, CA 1.5 Million 75% diversion by 2010 By 2020, less than 10% by weight of landfilled material will consist of recyclables/organics

Boulder, CO 100,000 70% waste reduction in 2012; 85% by 2017; zero waste by 2015

Fairfax County, VA 1.1 Million 25% of MSW recycled (no date provided)

Fresno, CA 480,000 75% diversion 2012; 90% diversion 2020

King County, WA 2 Million 55% recycling by 2015; 70% recycling by 2020

Kirkland, WA 80,000 10% GHG reduction from 2005 through 2012 from city government operations; 20% reduction by 2020; 80% reduction by 2050.17

Orange County, NC 133,100 61% per capita waste reduction

San Jose, CA 945,000 75% waste to recycling diversion by 2010; Zero waste by 202018

Markham, Ontario 300,000 81% diversion in 2014

Metro Vancouver, BC 2.3 Million 70% waste diversion by 2015

U.S. Army Net Zero Initiative / Waste Diversion A zero waste mandate is also driving waste diversion programs with our U.S. military. The “Net Zero Initiative” is a strategy for managing energy, water, and waste at Army installations. The Army’s Net Zero Initiative is built upon the Army’s long-standing energy efficiency and sustainability practices. Recycling diversion programs are crucial for the Net Zero Waste pilot installations and will remain significant for years to come. Composting and other means of digesting biodegradable organic materials are also considered recycling activities or methods. Most of the Net Zero Waste pilot installations have robust metrics/goals that include many recent diversion innovations and best practices.19

Some military bases that are implementing aggressive waste diversion programs are:

Fort Carson, CO

Fort Campbell, SC

Fort Hood, TX

Fort Bliss, TX

Measuring Waste Diversion On its surface, the measurement of waste diversion appears quite simple. However, there are many parts and players in the diversion measurement process that are complex, painfully slow, and all too often inaccurate. The good news is that new technology innovations and automation are already being used to accurately measure waste diversion, cost savings and GHG carbon footprint.


Simple Waste Diversion Math Recycling Diversion Rate = Recycled Waste / (Solid Waste + Recycled Waste) Example: 50 Tons Recycled Waste / (50 Tons Recycled Waste + 110 Tons Solid Waste) = 31% Recycling Diversion Rate.

Accuracy of Reporting is Key Obtaining highly accurate weight information from multiple trucks, routes, drivers, landfills and municipal recycling facilities for reporting is very important, but can be challenging if the right processes and tools are not in place. And can be complicated even further by defined municipal boundaries and jurisdictions served by a single or multiple haulers.

CalRecycle Disposal Reporting System (DRS)20 CalRecycle was required to develop a system to track jurisdiction of waste origin using periodic surveys because the disposal-based measurement system is heavily dependent on accurate disposal/waste data. CalRecycle set minimum standards for origin surveys – one week per quarter – to allow local flexibility. The Disposal Reporting System has given jurisdictions a better understanding of their waste flow and disposal data, but with difficult issues:

Complex boundaries make it difficult to identify the jurisdiction of waste origin.

Reliance on vehicle drivers for jurisdiction information and origin of waste.

Accuracy of one-week-per-quarter waste origin survey.

Lack of scales at some landfills for reporting landfill tip weights.

Lack of enforcement mechanisms to assist jurisdictions in resolving issues due to misinformation and untimely information.

Data analyses show that waste hauler drivers may not know the jurisdiction of origin for hauling routes that cross and serve multiple jurisdictions.

A very simplified approach to measuring waste diversion would look something like this:

1) Using waste diversion best practices, issue three carts/bins to every customer (residential and commercial); a solid waste bin, a recycling bin and an organics/composting Bin.

2) Set up pick-up routes to service a single waste material. The easiest way to accomplish this is with separate trucks for separate waste material routes – solid waste, recycling, and composting/organics.

3) Keep routes within defined jurisdictions/boundaries. 4) When the truck is full, drive to either a landfill or municipal recycling facility. Weigh and tip the

load. 5) Take a receipt from the weigh station and return all weights for all routes to the

operation/administration offices. 6) Create spreadsheets for entering entire routes, waste types and weight information. 7) Filter data, calculate and report diversion rates. 8) With diversion rates and waste data, calculate equivalent carbon footprint.

This 8-step simplified example will provide an overall diversion and data for tracking reduction and greenhouse gases and is a viable approach verses doing nothing. However, as discussed in the CalRecycle example, the real process is not simple as it appears, and is really quite slow to produce any valuable reporting. Furthermore, only high level performance metrics can be calculated and traced.


These metrics (if they are even accurate), will not provide enough information for examining the recycling efforts and habits of each customer, building, shopping mall, district, region, and so on.

The Waste Diversion Solution – Waste Measurement Automation 3.On-board truck scales with service location detection and waste data reporting software are available today:

On-board truck scales – weigh-in-motion front-end loaders (FELs), rear loaders, side loaders, weigh-in-motion cart tippers, Curotto Cans, roll-offs

Service pick-up location capabilities (GPS or RFID)

Automatically weigh every bin

Detect waste/service type

GPS location – service, customer and truck record truck, route and driver

Detect regions, zones and municipal boundaries

Time/date stamp of every pick-up

See Appendix A for an expanded list of load data records

These same on-board scales will alert drivers when their trucks are full to achieve complete vehicle efficiency; without over/under loading. (more about on-board scales in Chapter 4.)

Software Automation is the Key Software is crucial to managing the goldmine of waste weight data records and providing waste diversion reports at any time, and at any level. For example, if a city is using five trucks, each with two routes per day, five days per week, and 500 customers per route, then the operations team will receive 25,000 data records each week. And these data records contain all of the location, waste and customer information described in the previous paragraph. Load management analytic software

not only provides simplified reports, but also triggers alarms that require management attention. All automatic, and all available today.

Ideal Load Management Software Simple to integrate with on-board scale sensors

Automatically identify each load with GPS location or RFID tag – with no driver intervention

Back-office mapping for tracking routes and identifying cart/bin load status

Provide data records that identify every load, service and account uniquely

Automatically filter and analyze data for on-demand reporting such as diversion of commodities for trucks, routes, cities, and even individual customers

Figure 4. Multiple Services for Multiple Customers


A load record from an on-board scale system can be compared to a photo taken by a digital camera. The LOAD is the key piece of scale data as the digital IMAGE is the key camera output. Along with the LOAD is a whole record of meta-data that provides information about the load location, time-stamp, customer, and so on. Just as a digital photo contains a record with meta-data describing the location, time-stamp, camera, owner, and so on. See Appendix A for an example of a load record.

Simple administration for setting warnings and alarms concerning loads that could severely affect diversion and GHG emission goals

Ability to backup all data and secured 24x7

Locating Waste Carts / Bins / Dumpsters The most widespread technology in use today are GPS devices for determining the latitude/longitude of any waste cart/bin/dumpster. This technology is accurate within a few feet and assists the software for matching the cart load with the customer account without any driver intervention. RFID is taking root in the waste and recycling industry because it can uniquely pinpoint each waste container with a unique address ID. This is especially important for residential pickups where carts can be lined up side-to-side and represent multiple customers/residences (see Figure 4). Once this load data record is uploaded to the back office software, office dispatchers and managers can track routes, identify loads, and verify any service right from a map (see Figure 5). No searching through thousands of data records. This location capability is crucial for accurate diversion waste programs. Without it, excessive cart/bin/dumpster weights cannot be pinpointed and managed at the customer level. This on-map reporting capability is also very useful for calls from customers concerning non-service, as the data map-record can confirm service and report non-service issues like locked gates, no cart, and so on.

Figure 5. Mapping of Service Locations

Waste Diversion Charts With load management software and on-board scales, diversion can be tracked at any point in time, and does not rely on the slow and unreliable manual processes described earlier.


Here are two charts that are common (template) reports provided by analytic and reporting software. These charts can be generated on demand. This first chart (Figure 6) displays the actual load data reported monthly separated by waste, recycling and organics. The second report (Figure 7) simply uses the same data to chart the diversion rate (as we defined earlier). This city example is on a good track regarding their diversion rate and will make for interesting reports at sustainability review meetings. But there’s more to the software than producing these initial charts. The data is all available to be mined for deeper, detailed information that can allow operations to significantly improve the diversion rate just reviewed.

Figure 6. City Municipal Waste (Total Waste)

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City Municipal Waste (pounds)

FY12 thru FY14

Refuse Recycling Organics/ Compost


Figure 7. City Diversion Rate Chart

Deep Mining of Data These charts and metrics are critical when waste and recycling diversion is integrated into a municipality, university or military base environmental sustainability program. And the timeliness, accuracy and integrity are maintained using proven on-board scales and load data management software automation. Studying the detailed data and identifying key issues and opportunities for improvement are very important features that should be integrated into the software platform – for “drilling deeper” into the data mine. One of the most rudimentary methods, but not fully automated, is to export the load record database into a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel. The data is then available for filtering key statistics like over/under loaded trucks, high density accounts that are contributing too much waste to the landfill and profitable customers who are sorting correctly and are diverting a major portion of their waste to recycling/composting, and so on. However, this is a highly manual process and requires trained personnel to drill down into thousands of data records to produce the necessary reports.

Simple-to-Use Actionable Data Analytics Data analytic software analyzes the waste load database and provides standard charts - such as diversion rates - and out-of-range density loads. These out-of-range conditions are set with simple administrative features. At a glance, those charged with improving sustainability metrics can determine what action(s) need to be taken. This following chart (see Figure 8) shows the main software dashboard for a city that is tracking waste hauled to municipal landfills and recycling and organic loads hauled to MRFs. The color of the tiles tell the user where there are no issues (GREEN), some warnings that might need to be studied (YELLOW), and key alerts (RED) that most likely require immediate attention.

10%

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1-Oct-12 1-Jan-13 1-Apr-13 1-Jul-13 1-Oct-13 1-Jan-14 1-Apr-14 1-Jul-14

City Diversion Rate - FY12 thru FY14 (Recyled+Organics) / Total Waste

Diversion Rate


This particular example indicates there are 79 services/loads that have exceeded some threshold that had been set by the waste dashboard administrator.

Figure 8. Main Management Dashboard

Each layer of the report provides more information. This next layer (see Figure

9) breaks the service types into refuse, recycling and composting/organics – all of which was set up at an adminstrative level. The RED tiles indicate there are some alerts pending with refuse and recycling. Note, that the software is very flexible. There could also be services added for compacted waste, glass, cardboard, and so on. Clicking to the next layer down (see Figure 10), the dashboard splits out all the refuse services into individual tiles and reports. The 4-yard refuse will be used for the remainder of this example and software walk-through. As noted, in the dashboard screen, there are 14 x 4Yd service pickups that have exceeded some alarm level. Figure 9. Dashboard >> Service Types


Figure 10. Dashboard >> Service Types >> Refuse

Drilling down one more level (see Figure 11) provides immense detail in a simple chart and table. This chart shows there are 14 customers with 4-yard FEL bins that have exceeded their contracted weight per cubic yard. This is shown by the purple line graphed across the chart. The blue bars represent the number of pick-ups for each customer load/service. Pay particular attention to any customer above 160lbs/yards3. This is the shaded red area in Figure 11 and indicates customer average load densities above the contracted weight of 160lbs/yd3.

Figure 11. Customer Pickup Report


Kirkland Metro Grill was circled above to point out the very high average load density. By clicking on any customer, the software will automatically drill down further to provide all of the detailed load weights for the customer (see Figure 12); in this example Kirkland Metro Grill. This customer is most likely unprofitable for the hauler and is contributing excessive GHG levels against the city. Looking at the very high density of the loads shown in Figure 12 it is likely they are dumping food scraps or other contaminates into the waste refuse stream. With automated load management software, any customer can be examined for more detail without wasting administrative resources and fumbling with Excel tables.

On-board Truck Scales 4.Although much of this paper has focused on the simplicity of automatically collecting, analyzing and reporting of waste and diversion data, the data stream all starts with the load weight of each pick-up weighed with on-board truck scales. For front end loader (FEL) waste trucks, these scales should be part of the fork assembly so each load can be weighed individually, and weighed-in-motion. Eliminating the wait times found on some on-board weight systems.

Weigh-in-motion

scales allow drivers to simply pick up the cart and go – no stopping for the weight to settle. The load weight will be determined while the arms lift the bin for dumping. When complete, the same process is used as the arms are lowered to capture the empty bin weight. This load weight is automatically stored with the customer account, time stamped, and marked by GPS location without any driver intervention. Furthermore, these load records are available for transmission on-demand to the

back-office operations team.

These same weigh-in-motion scales are just becoming available for rear loader waste trucks using cart tippers which are primarily used for residential load pickups.

Figure 12. Average Load Density per Customer

Figure 13. FEL with LoadCell

Figure 14. Rear Loader with Cart Tippers


The accuracy (+/- 2% error) of the load data is critical. Some scales require calibrated often – even daily. There are scales on the market that can last for months without having to pull a truck from service for calibration. On-board truck scales are found on the full variety of waste trucks: weigh-in-motion front-end loaders, side loaders, underbody rear loaders, weigh-in-motion cart tippers, Curotto Cans, roll-offs with underbody scales and compactors. Here are the best-in-class requirements for a waste truck on-board scale.

Repeatable weights with less than 2% error rate.

Once a year recommended calibration (not weekly or daily).

Weigh-in-motion to reduce pick-up cycle time.

Unforgiving durability to withstand the rugged use and harsh climate environments.

Let the driver drive. Make certain that routes can be downloaded to an on-board computer for tracking customers and associated weighed loads.

GPS or RFID for detecting the location of a can and identifying each service/customer automatically with load management software.

Wireless communication for uploading load records from the truck to the back office load management software database.

Easy-to-read in-cab display to track the net weight. No more under loading, wasted labor, and wasted fuel.

Threshold detection to alert driver when the truck has met its maximum capacity. No more overloading fines.

Ability to “tag” pick-ups with problems like locked gate or no container.

Every load is measured and tracked separately. For service verification and for tracking the waste usage of any customer.

Summary This paper has laid-out best practices for waste diversion from across municipalities, university campuses, and military bases. While waste diversion is just one piece of the environmental sustainability puzzle, it has a very large impact on the overall goals for reduction of greenhouse gases. Along with the benefits of GHC reduction, there are savings from landfill tipping costs and less fuel for trips to the landfill; Increased revenue from recycling and organics diverted to MRFs; and greater employment opportunities at recycling facilities vs. landfills. And let’s not forget the underlying improvements to our overall living environment. This final chart below provides a clear summary of the benefits of using automated diversion measuring and reporting vs. the past standard operating procedures.21

On Earth Day, 1971, an enduring minute-long TV spot debuted. Viewers watched a Native American Indian paddle his canoe up a polluted and flotsam-filled river, stream past belching smokestacks, come ashore a litter-strewn river bank and walk to the edge of a highway, where the occupant of a passing car thoughtlessly tossed a bag of trash out the car window to burst open at the astonished visitor’s feet. When the camera moved upwards for a close-up, a single tear was seen rolling down the American Indian’s face as the narrator intoned: “People start pollution. People can stop it.”


Table 1. Waste Diversion SOP vs Automation

Measuring Diversion – Standard Operating

Procedure

Automated Diversion Measurement and Reporting

Collecting Data Manual and open to error

Relies on drivers to obtain and retain weight tickets

Long cycle times for data gathering

Labor intensive

Many handoffs in the chain

Automated

On-board truck scales

Weight per customer and weight per service

Weight with meta-data attached

No driver intervention

Weight per load, per truck, per route, per region, per city, per customer, and so on

Administrating the Data

Manual data entry

Data collation

Researching missing data records from drivers

Many times data is left in paper files and not backed up

Automatic data base backups

Scanning of data tables for possible missed loads

Automatic mapping of routes to determine if any route changes should be initiated

Reporting the Data

Manual and labor intensive

May receive reports monthly but mostly quarterly

Diversion and GHG are the only key reports available

Reports on demand; daily if necessary

Provides automatic diversion charts at multiple levels; city, region, route, truck, neighborhood, and every customer

Provides automatic reporting on load density per customer to “weed-out” waste scofflaws


Appendix A

Load Record Sample Contents

Load Weight of load picked up.

Pick Up Time Time load was picked up.

GeoFence If this column is blank, then Geo Fence Algorithms were not used to determine the identity of the account.

Customer & Customer Name

Customer identifier (frequently a number) and associated name.

Site & Site Name Single or Multiple Site locations can be set for each Customer. When defined, this field will show the Site where the Load was picked up.

Load ID A numerical account number used for each individual Service pick-up.

Load Name Customized

Service Type Service Types are defined by Customer and help identify differences in Services that Customer desires to track. Useful grouping Services into smaller categories and groups and filtering.

For example: Service Type code might represent type and size of container + product type.

Quantity Number of loads serviced.

Route Route driver is assigned to pick up designated loads.

NVW – Net Vehicle Weight

Total Net Vehicle Weigh of the Truck

Product Materials to be picked and tracked by weight. The customers can download a Route to the Meter with a Product or a List of Products included.

Truck & Truck Name

Truck Number and associated name.

Load Latitude Latitude Geo Coordinate where the Load was picked up.

Load Longitude Longitude Geo Coordinate where the Load was picked up.

Events Indicates variances and issues while running the route. Events are defined by Customer and can be included in the down loads to the Meters where the operator can select an Event and Record it.

Address Customer Billing Address


About the Author Alan Housley Vice President Marketing Creative Microsystems, Inc.

With a high technology background in Fortune 100 companies and venture backed startups, Alan has gained extensive experience in business/operations management, strategic planning, and rapid business growth. Twenty combined years at Hewlett Packard and Eastman Kodak provided Alan with world class business skills -- especially in the area of product marketing & management, go-to-market execution and strategic planning -- while delivering outstanding business results. After moving to the Seattle area, Alan has focused his skills on starting and growing smaller, high technology and e-commerce businesses – leading marketing,

sales, product management/marketing, product development and operations.

Diverse businesses managed have ranged from enterprise computing and networking, to wireless mobile software & services, factory automation/control, professional and consumer based photography and imaging, high capacity document management & printing, and field customer technical support. Some of the vertical markets Alan has served include waste & recycling, health care, government, defense, manufacturing, energy & aerospace.

Alan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri – Columbia. He also holds a Certificate of Product Management from the Association of International Product Marketing & Management. He is currently the Vice President of Marketing at Creative Microsystems, Inc. (LoadMan On-board Truck Scales). Contact: Alan Housley [email protected] linkedin.com/in/alanhousley www.loadman.com

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.loadman.com/

Measuring and Improving Waste Diversion

References 1 US Census Bureau 2012 Census of Governments

2 The Grand Island Independent, 11/3/2014; Quoting a Joslyn Institute Recycling Study

3 City of Kirkland – Climate Protection Action Plan (April 2009)

4 www.epa.gov – Municipal Waste

5 Waste Management World – July 30, 2012

6 USEPA 2009 Fact and Figures - EPA530-R-10-012 - December 2010

7 National Waste and Recycling Association, Municipal Solid Waste Pocket Facts

8 www.epa.gov Waste Diversion

9 www.seattletimes.com, Associated Press – 9/23/14

10 File No. 021468, City and County of San Francisco – 10/1/02

11 www.sfenvironment.org/zero-waste - 9/2014

12 San Francisco Resolution No. 679‐02

13 www.lacitysan.org/solid_resources/pdfs/rfp-swirp-appendix-b3.pdf

14 University of Washington Recycling & Solid Waste Annual Report FY13

15 American University, Washington D.C. – Zero Waste Policy April 2013

16 Meclenburg County – Best Practices for Local Government Solid Waste Recycling, Diversion from Landfill and

Waste Reduction – December 2011 17

City of Kirkland – Climate Protection Action Plan (April 2009) 18

www.epa.gov – Municipal Waste 19

Net Zero Progress Report Net Zero Pilot Installation Initiative 2012 -- May 2013 20

http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/lgcentral/Library/SB2202Rpt/ExecSummary.htm 21

Snopes.com – Iron Eyes Cody

http://www.epa.gov/

http://www.epa.gov/

http://www.seattletimes.com/

http://www.sfenvironment.org/zero-waste

http://www.lacitysan.org/solid_resources/pdfs/rfp-swirp-appendix-b3.pdf

http://www.epa.gov/

http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/lgcentral/Library/SB2202Rpt/ExecSummary.htm


Notes:

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