In addition to the fee question, it is not clear at this point when the carts will be distributed around the city or how households can choose between different cart sizes. The enterprise fund would establish a “pay-as-you-go” pricing system for households based on the amount of trash and recycling they use – similar to how the city charges residents for water and sewage usage. The mayor’s 10-year financial plan calls for creating a “solid waste enterprise fund” financed separately from the city’s general fund. (However, to make the automatic lift system work, the truck fleet will have to be equipped with automated arm lifters, and that would cost at least $400,000, according to Public Works director Rudolph Chow.)Įach Schaefer Systems container will cost the city about $40 and include a three-year service contract with the company to maintain the cart inventory and supply scanners and scanner software to keep track of the containers.įew details have been released about the mechanics of the program, including a definitive answer about whether households will have to pay a fee for the new carts. Tomorrow’s award means that Schaefer Systems is expected to supply mostly 65-gallon plastic containers within six weeks of the city’s purchase order.Įach container will have an attached tight-fitting lid, two wheels, RFID tags and handles for lifting and dumping the contents automatically into city garbage trucks. (That number was amended to 26% by the Department of Public Works after The Brew questioned inconsistencies between the percentage cited and the recorded number of citizen calls in the two neighborhoods.)Ī prototype trash container made by the supplier. The purchase of so-called “smart” garbage cans has been one of the top priorities of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to replace the myriad of cans, containers and plastic bags currently used by residents to dispose of their garbage.Ī pilot program of 11,000 municipally-owned carts distributed in the Mondawmin area and Belair-Edison last year has been credited by the mayor with reducing citizen calls for rat exterminations by 75%. North Carolina-based Schaefer Systems International has been selected as the supplier of the rollout containers that will be equipped with radio frequency (RFID) tags for tracking purposes, painted green, emblazoned with the city seal and lettered with text that will read, “Property of the City of Baltimore.” In a second phase that will see the trash cans placed in the city’s business districts and bus stops, the Maryland Port Administration will pitch in about $900,000.The Board of Estimates is set tomorrow to approve $8.94 million to buy about 210,000 garbage cans that will be distributed next year to every city household as part of an effort to keep streets cleaner and reduce the rat population. The Casino Local Development Council is funding the first phase to the tune of $300,000. Others will be along Light, Charles, and Hanover streets in South Baltimore. The first phase of trash cans will be located on Washington Boulevard, and in Ridgely’s Delight, Cherry Hill and Westport. “I’m thankful to our partners in the Casino Local Development Council and the Maryland Port Administration for providing the funding for these cans, and I’m thrilled for our neighbors and businesses that will benefit from them.” “ Baltimore needs to get smarter about trash, and these Smart Cans are a big part of the solution,” Pugh said in a statement. So the ultimate measure will be whether the new trash cans help reduce litter. While city government officials have said they want “smart city” technology the goal here is to make the city cleaner. During the pilot, workers will look to optimize locations and routes. As for the solar power, the trashcans are located in spots where they can absorb at least a few minutes of sunlight a day. They also contain sensors, which will alert DPW workers when they need to be picked up. Learn More About the Smart Cans > /tEEJsVAJd7Īpproved by the city’s spending board after a competitive bid and challenge from the second-highest bidder in January, the trash cans from South Korea–based Ecube Labs are compactors, and are opened via foot pedal. The cans compact the trash to contain more waste. At Cherry Hill Town Center, Mayor Catherine Pugh was on-hand for the “ceremonial disposal” of the first items.īaltimore’s new Smart Cans have enclosed construction that confines litter. Now the city is adding trash cans powered by the sun in hopes of collecting more garbage on the streets.Īs of Monday, the first wave of 64 “smart” trash cans is rolling out around South Baltimore, according to the Baltimore Department of Public Works. Trash Wheel ( and friends) brought solar-powered trash collection to Baltimore’s harbor.
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