BURBANK : Automated Trash Pickup Starts Well
Burbank completed the first automated trash pickup for one-third of the city Monday with few problems, according to Public Works Director Ora Lampman.
The city is phasing in the use of automated trash trucks over three years, putting one-third of the city on the system under which black cans are used for trash, blue for recyclables and green for lawn trimmings and other green waste.
Lampman said complaints were received from residents unhappy with new rules prohibiting trash cans in alleys, which are too narrow for the new trucks.
For the first trash pickup the work was divided in half, with part of the route collected last week and the job finished Monday.
The new automated trucks put into use for the recycling project also reduce costs, Lampman said.
A conventional truck with workers picking up garbage cans by hand can serve only 250 homes in one day while an automated truck can handle 700, he said.
“With the manual pickup you do have a lot of back injuries and with the automated system you can eliminate a lot of that,” Lampman said.
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