Household waste collection across Barbados will soon be automated.
The Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) in partnership with the waste management firm Prosource Ltd. will soon be rolling out automated collection of garbage under a Residential Waste Collection Improvement Project.
Prosource Ltd., which is responsible for the implementation of the scheme, said it was designed to modernize and transform the way residential waste was collected using state-of-the-art technology.
The aim is to make waste collection safer, faster and more efficient, according to the company.
The new collection system will consist of smart collection vehicles and roll-out carts, using technology to track and monitor collection and transfer real-time data.
Prosource said that with the data and tracking the SSA will be able to plan routes to recover missed households, fix safety concerns and track progress.
Under this project, 100,000 carts and 100,000 bins are to be distributed to households between August 2021 and March 2022.
Householders will get new 65 gallon carts and 18 gallon recycling bins. The distribution phase of the project started in the north of the island and distribution across the rest of the country is expected to last at least eight months.
Existing disposal bins will not be collected as part of the project.
The project will use radio frequency identification (RFID), a wireless system used to track tags attached to objects.
Each bin will have a QR code that will allow the SSA to track carts based on their location. It will also be used to assist the SSA with better planning of routes and systematic collections through neighbourhoods, according to Prosource Ltd.
Once the bins are put into position, one of the loaders will operate the mechanical cart lifter that will lift and empty the roll-out bins in the receptacle of the garbage truck.
If the trucks are unable to go in some streets, householders will be required to roll their carts to an approved area on the day for collection, and once the SSA has collected the garbage residents are able to return their carts back to their premises.
“Prosource will work with the SSA to deliver a route planning and scheduling optimisation solution with in-vehicle navigation equipment for the collection trucks. This will improve the regularity and reliability of garbage collection in the future,” Prosource said of the project.
Public Relations Officer of the SSA Carl Alf Padmore told Barbados TODAY the project will not affect employment at the waste management agency since there will still be a need for two loaders at the back of the trucks.
In fact, he said, the new process will make life a little easier for the SSA workers.
“The loaders will still be required to roll the bins to the truck. In fact, what we see down the road is that our guys can work even longer because it is easier than lifting up the bins,” said Padmore.
“We would have had to deal with lifting heavy cans and been exposed to all of the stuff in the cans because a lot of them were not covered. With the new carts, there is a cover and therefore we don’t have to battle with the elements in terms of the rain, and the dogs and cats ravishing through the bins. So everything will be done through hydraulics. So you will just wheel the cans there and the hydraulics will lift up them. That is a key point for us,” he explained.
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