Dive Brief:
- The city of Newark, DE has voted to keep its in-house refuse collection operation, after earlier deciding to outsource to a private hauler. The move will require Newark to update its trash truck fleet, an expensive endeavor.
- Transferring trash, recycling, and yard waste services to Republic Services would have saved the city $4.9 million, but it would have cost eight jobs, which residents adamantly opposed.
- On Monday, council unanimously voted to invest $940,628 to replace four refuse collection trucks.
Dive Insight:
Newark decided investing in the front-end is worth maintaining direct control of the city’s refuse collections and ultimately improving its equipment and efficiency. For instance, by replacing a single rear axle system, drivers will not have to dump twice daily — reducing trips to the transfer station and increasing production.
The new trucks are also fitted with axle scales to more precisely gauge collected weight, ultimately making landfill trips more efficient.
The high price of trash trucks — which generally cost around $250,000 — is what keeps many municipalities from following the industry trend of switching to CNG fleets. If the City of Newark can increase its fleet efficiency with four new trucks this year, it may able to save enough money to invest in CNG trucks in the future.
