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New city garbage trucks will lend a helping arm
The city plans to shift some garbage collectors to an expanded yard waste removal program.
By BRIAN WHITE
Published July 20, 2005
TAMPA - Blue trash bins that began appearing on sidewalks Tuesday in the Palma Ceia neighborhood are part of a city plan to relieve sanitation workers by taking garbage collection out of their hands and putting it into mechanical ones.
The 95-gallon bins are designed to work with automated garbage trucks that use a motorized arm to lift and dump trash into the hopper, said Mark Wilfalk, the manager of residential services for the city's Solid Waste Department.
The city owns only one such truck now but will have 12 by the end of the year, he said. By 2010, the department plans to use automated trucks for 80 percent of its customers, which is about 50,000 households.
About 1,100 wheeled bins will be distributed by Saturday in the area bounded by W Palmira Avenue to the north, W Leona Street to the south, Dale Mabry Highway to the west and S MacDill Avenue and the Crosstown Expressway to the east, Wilfalk said.
Residents will be required to use just the blue bins for garbage disposal once they receive them, because the mechanical arm won't work with regular trash cans, he said. Yard waste and recycled items will continue to be collected separately.
Residents can request a second bin if one is not enough for their garbage.
The automated trucks are designed to work more efficiently than current trucks, so fewer will be needed to do the same work. Some sanitation workers will be shifted to an expanded yard waste removal program, Wilfalk said.
It will also be easier on the backs of those who remain in garbage collection, he said. Workers will control the arm from inside the truck cab, perhaps resulting in fewer injuries and worker's compensation claims.
Parts of North Tampa between Busch Boulevard and Fowler Avenue received 1,000 bins two weeks ago.
Residents who need a second bin can call (813) 348-1111 to reach the Solid Waste Department's customer service line.
Brian White can be reached at 813 226-3354 or bwhite@sptimes.com
[Last modified July 20, 2005, 00:56:12]
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