To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: TED SEMAAN, PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
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DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING THE RESIDENTIAL TWO WASTE STREAM PILOT PROGRAM THAT WAS CONDUCTED FROM MARCH 2020 TO NOVEMBER 2020.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The City Council approved the two-waste stream pilot program for the Thursday residential route on February 2, 2020. The pilot program began March 5, 2020 and concluded on November 5, 2020. The Thursday residential route was selected by Athens Services and staff due to having the highest number of one way and narrow streets that potentially would be impacted the greatest or show the greatest benefit of a two-barrel system. It initially was scheduled to run for six months, however due to Covid-19 the pilot program was extended to eight months in order to capture more accurate data; the pilot program operated uninterrupted during the duration of the pilot.
The goal of the pilot program was to analyze whether moving to a two-waste stream system would be beneficial for the City in terms of reducing traffic, reducing wear and tear on City streets, and reducing the City's carbon footprint. During the pilot program, data was collected on waste tonnage, hours spent servicing, miles driven, and number of trips taken.
While the number of trips in and out of the City decreased by two total trips, every other pertinent element increased. For instance, the cumulative amount of time servicing the route increased by approximately ten hours, the cumulative number of miles driven increased by 245 miles, and the total tonnage of all combined material increased by 19 tons. While the reason for the total tonnage increase is possibly due to more residents being at home due to Covid-19 restrictions, the increase in hours spent servicing and the total miles driven are directly correlated with switching from a three-waste stream system to a two-waste stream system.
The increases in service time and miles traveled lead to operational ...
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