The city of Kalamazoo is replacing aging trash cans downtown with new waste collection bins that have integrated recycling.
According to a July 31 news release, the city will remove 58 old trash cans this fall and replace them with 26 new Bigbelly recycling units.
The smart waste collection units have two bins, one for trash and one for recyclables, and contain smart sensors that notify waste collection crews when they are full. Bigbelly units already exist in 25 locations downtown.
The expansion is funded by the Downtown Economic Growth Authority, and also includes the relocation of some existing units to new, more high-traffic areas.
City officials say the goal of a smart waste collection system is to reduce overflow, maintain more accurate collection times and improve the cleanliness of the downtown area.
Meghan Behymer, downtown coordinator for the City of Kalamazoo, said the smart system alerts a team of "downtown ambassadors," who then collect the waste and bring it to a dumpster location on Farmer's Alley.
Behymer said the city currently contracts with Best Way Disposal for trash and recycling disposal services.
"We are increasing our recycling ability by having the Bigbelly bins, but we don't see an impact as of now that would have changes to our contract agreement (with Best Way), but that's something we certainly will have to continue to monitor as ideally recycling goes up," Behymer said.
The city also partnered with interns from Western Michigan University’s Industrial Organizational Behavior Management program to perform audits on the existing units downtown and determine how much trash was getting into recycling bins.
According to the news release, the audits found nearly 44% of the material in the bins were contaminants like food waste or non-recyclable items.
Behymer said she hopes the audits will become a regular occurrence to help city officials better understand how to promote and increase proper disposal.
"Collecting baseline data is great - it's how do we continue to assess it. I want to see it incorporated, and that's working alongside city partners, board members, with the Downtown Economic Growth Authority and alongside our ambassadors to create a plan so that we can regularly assess that," Behymer said.
The results of the audits will be used to help officials determine next steps to educate people on proper disposal - which Behymer said will include improved signage and instructions on recyclable materials and which items can be recycled.
