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City of Toronto Begins Largest Recycling and Refuse Cart Roll-Out Program in North American History (February, 2008)
LOS ANGELES, CA -- The City of Toronto's residential recycling and refuse cart program is off and running. "It is believed to be the largest single phase residential cart roll-out program in the history of North America in terms of units," according to Mike Schwalbach, Environmental Group Manager for Rehrig Pacific Company, the cart supplier selected by the City.
Rehrig Pacific will manufacture and distribute at least one million carts throughout the entire City of Toronto. Residents will be receiving one cart for recycling, in a choice of three sizes 360 liter, 240 liter, 130 liter (95gallon, 65gallon, 35gallon), and one cart for refuse, in a choice of four sizes including a 75 liter (20gallon) unit. Residents were allowed to select their own cart sizes by way of a return mailer that was developed, distributed and collected by the manufacturer. The mailer introduced the program to the population and guided their cart selection based on their needs. Remarkably, over 70% of the households replied by the deadline either by regular mail, through an automated phone system or entering their selection on a web site set up by the manufacturer, showing the high level of awareness and interest within the community.
Toronto's program is considered a milestone for the solid waste industry, not only due to the scale of the project, but also for the extensive array of support services. These wide ranging services include the cart selection survey, RFID tag and bar code integration for each cart, cart assembly and residential distribution with RFID and bar code association for each address, and implementation of a ten-year cart service and maintenance program.
In 2007, the Toronto City Council approved the "Getting to 70% Waste Diversion from Landfill Plan" which laid out steps to increase waste diversion to 70% by 2010 and the funding model by which this goal could be achieved. The City will launch a new volume-based rate structure in 2008 to enhance recycling rates. All recycling and refuse carts will be tracked by RFID and bar code technology and will be part of a sophisticated data management and asset tracking system provided by Rehrig Pacific.
As the operational foundation for Rehrig's Environmental Services Group, Rehrig Penn Logistics (RPL), a wholly owned subsidiary, developed the C.A.R.T.S. (Cart Asset Recovery Tracking System) data management software to accurately track and manage distribution services, cart maintenance work flow and collection data. The software is customizable to the unique needs and requirements of any city.
Once a customer's data is uploaded to the system it can be effectively utilized for:
- Collection surveys and route audits
- Residential mailer processing
- Cart tracking throughout the supply chain from production to the residence
- Asset and inventory management
- Work order initiation and follow-up
- Cart maintenance history
- Recycling participation tracking
- Incentive based recycling programs
"Rehrig is proud to participate in such a dynamic program that includes carts and a number of new cart management services for the City," Mike continued. Paul Speed, Rehrig's Canadian Sales Manager, adds, "It took years of effort in several other Canadian organic waste and recycling programs to establish our reputation as a cart vendor in this market. RPL's experience in tracking reusable assets, including plastic pallets and containers in closed loop supply chains, enabled Rehrig Pacific to provide a proven asset management and information system to the City of Toronto."
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