Growing Cities Face Growing Issues With Trash

Imagine this: You’re a Public Works Director for a city that’s experiencing substantial growth. It’s an exciting time. There are more places to eat, fun things to do, and plenty of jobs from new businesses flocking to the area. Your city’s residents are prospering. While this growth has been overwhelmingly positive, you’re noticing a major challenge- lots of garbage.
Your city produces more trash than it used to, and it’s created some problems. The number of trash pick-ups in your city has skyrocketed, which is terrible for the environment. You’re also beginning to see an abundance of unsightly dumpsters taking up space in alleyways, and you’ve experienced a severe uptick in resident complaints about rodents. Looking to address these environmental, aesthetic, and health-related waste problems, you’ve begun to investigate solutions.

I’m here to tell you the solution you seek is implementing trash compactors. Here’s why:

Environmental Responsibility

As I’m sure you’re aware by now, producing an excess of trash is terrible for the environment. Excess waste leads to rising carbon emissions through increased trash pick-ups. Trash compactors can reduce the carbon emissions your city produces by decreasing the number of trash pick-ups necessary. Generally, a compactor will reduce the number of pick-ups by up to 75%. (For a more in-depth look at why compactors are an environmentally friendly solution, make sure to check out our previous blog post Compactors: The Proven Green Solution No One is Talking About.)

Aesthetics

Trash isn’t pretty. Walking through alleys and seeing 7 or 8 overflowing dumpsters is unappealing to multiple senses. Replacing these dumpsters with a trash compactor is ideal functionally and aesthetically. Functionally, a trash compactor can hold up to 4 times the amount of waste that an open-top container can. Aesthetically, compactors conceal and mask the unsightly sights and smell of trash.

Rodents- I’m sure that I don’t have to tell you that rodents are not a tourist attraction in your city. Rodents can carry harmful diseases and spread parasites like fleas and ticks. They are a legitimate health hazard to your residents.

An abundance of trash creates an environment for these rodents to thrive. The smell of garbage from overflowing dumpsters attracts rodents and provides them both a source of food and shelter to breed. Trash compactors are a proven tool to combat rodent issues. Compactors conceal the smell of trash, so rodents aren’t attracted to the area. They also prevent access to the dumpster, so they don’t provide shelter to breed for the few rodents that are around. Compactors create a far more sanitary environment and an overall healthier community.

What are Cities Doing About Trash?

You may be wondering- “Is there any history of other cities using trash compactors to combat waste problems?”.

There are cities of all sizes that utilize trash compactors as part of their waste management strategy. One recent example is Washington DC implementing its FY19 DC Commercial Compactor Demonstration Grant Program last year, which provided DC businesses grants to help purchase/lease and install commercial trash compactors. The goal of this program was to combat sanitation issues such as rodents and to adhere to sustainability goals by reducing carbon emissions.

Your city may not be the size of Washington DC and you’re looking for an example on a smaller scale. Consider then, The City of New Canaan. This small city recently replaced seven dumpsters with a single compactor in one of their signature downtown areas to address a rodent problem and to improve the area’s aesthetics. There are also tentative plans to implement this system in other places throughout the city as well.

As you’re realizing, a growing city will inevitably deal with the issue of growing waste volume. Excessive trash can lead to an abundance of environmental, aesthetic, and health-related problems. Implementing a plan using trash compactors can help alleviate these issues and keep your growing city thriving.

Think it’s time to discuss if trash compactors can help address your cities waste issues? Contact us today!