Waste collection for all seasons: CLS supporting local authorities
22 June 2020 - Waste management & urban cleanliness
22 June 2020 - Waste management & urban cleanliness
The amount of waste produced by households varies greatly throughout the year. At the scale of each individual household, waste production is fairly regular, except at certain times like Christmas and New Year. But seasonal variations in demand have a bigger impact on local authorities, which have to collect large volumes of waste.
CLS has been supporting them for many years with its Eazy Collecte waste collection management solutions, particularly in peak periods.
In certain large cities and municipal communities, the summer and winter holidays, tourist events and festivals bring with them large numbers of visitors. That of course means more waste. Tonnage can easily increase twofold at these times, and the knock-on effect on collection rounds can be colossal.
Local authorities that experience massive seasonal influxes of visitors therefore have to plan more frequent rounds and adjust their routes accordingly.
Take, for example, the popular tourist destinations of the Basque and Mediterranean coasts in August, when the population increases up to tenfold. While tourism is vital to these towns’ economies, public services have to scale up to accommodate such numbers of people. The same goes for waste collection services. Wheelie bins, buried containers and collection rounds are sized to meet the needs of users throughout the year, not during the high season. And as it’s impossible to provide more waste containers, the only option is to adapt and step up collection rounds
CLS’s Eazy Collecte solutions offer so much more than geolocation, supporting smart and effective management of waste collection to help local authorities maintain a good-quality public service at peak times.
When looking to adapt and rescale collection rounds, good data from the field is a strategic necessity for operators. Data fed back by CLS—such as times between collection points or precise tonnage per location—give them the clear picture they need to reorganize. CLS’s in-house design experts help operators to adjust rounds better, ensuring greater efficiency and responsiveness
More drivers are needed to meet seasonal demand. When rosters are planned for peak periods, drivers may be on rounds they are only assigned to once a year, so they may have forgotten the exact route. Eazy Collecte’s navigation system is right by their side to guide them and routes are recorded automatically, also useful when a driver has to be replaced.
The COVID-19 health crisis has been a good illustration, as when drivers are off sick their replacements are not always familiar with collection routes. Here, Eazy Collecte’s on-screen guidance and navigation features have come into their own, affording greater versatility and facilitating human resources management as well as continuity of service.