The phase “Revenue Harvesting the People” is an apt description of the philosophy behind the newly put-in-place City of Cleveland trash pick up system.
Instead, Cleveland’s system will revenue harvest the unsuspecting Cleveland citizenry.
Cleveland’s web site says that the City will benefit from “Increased participation in recycling and revenues” and “Reduction in waste disposal cost”
Presently the City pays $33/ton to dispose of refuse and the City receives $27/ton for recycled plastic, metal, etc. Every ton moved from the refuse disposal column to the recycled column brings and additional $60.00 cash to the city.
The City has chosen to take the revenue themselves, and not provide any revenue to the citizen who produces the trash and recyclables.
In Philadelphia, the revenue from recycling goes to the citizen, thus incentivizing citizens to separate recyclables from other trash.
But it gets better.
Cleveland's Commissioner of Waste, Ron Owens explained on the radio show Living on Earth that with the
rfid chips embedded in the plastic trash containers, the computer on the trash truck can instantly tell when the container was last picked up. If the recycling container hasn’t been picked up for a few weeks, the truck operator can assume that the homeowner isn’t separating the recyclables from the trash – and then the operator can go through the trash, find recylables, and fine the homeowner $100.00! Bingo! Cleveland scores! Harvesting the People!
The truck also has the capability of weighing each container as it is lifted and dumped, so the exact weight disposed by each household can be monitored. Get ready, soon you will be billed by weight.
Bait and switch. Not much bait here. Plenty of switch.
Another question I would ask is why these mass produced vacuum molded plastic bins cost $100.00 each. Cleveland is getting 25,000 bins for 2.5 million. That looks like $100 each. In Cincinnati four potential suppliers responded to that cities RFP. The potential suppliers were Otto, Cascade, Toter, and Rehrig Pacific.
Read the Cincinnati RFP pdf here.
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The installation of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) chips on 38,000 standardised wheeled bins.
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The installation of Weighing and Identification Systems on 18 refuse collection vehicles.
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GPS (Global Position Satellite) Tracking and Digital Mapping.
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Bi-directional GSM communication between the trucks and the back-office system.
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The development, installation and integration of a management back office system.
The advantages for Cork County Council of implementing this system:
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Ability to charge by weight (previously a fixed charge was levied to all customers regardless of the weight or quantity of waste collected).
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Allows complete traceability on all customers.
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Ability to monitor customer behaviour.
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Complete inventory check on all customers (i.e. Trucks would no longer collect unregistered bins/containers).
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Ability to trace missing or stolen containers.
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Ability to trace and monitor the efficiency of all vehicles.
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Improved Route Planning.