Oz Life (IV): Rubbish (OJG)
No, not this blog, but the collection of! Now I can only really speak for Perth, but I will for the moment assume that the same is true for all of Australia.
Rubbish collection in Oz is very efficient and quick!
Having only ever known British bin collectors, you know the ones that arrive in gangs of about 5 and a truck, drag the bins out of their storage making as much noise as possible, and an equal mess on the pavement. It seems to take them 5 minutes to do each house, and often they will not even take all the rubbish.
Well in Oz it is a little different. The truck has a driver and that is it. It takes him about 15 seconds to do each house. I am trying not to sound too excited about garbage removal, but believe me it is such a leap forward from what I have been used, it is hard to hold back the praise.
The reason it is so quick is a good combination of technology and scheduling. Each area has a different day of the week that the rubbish will be collected. Recycled waste is collected additionally every alternate week. People place their rubbish bin(s) at the end of the drive in the morning ready for the collector.
When the truck arrives, it stops at the bin, an arm pops out, lifts up the bin and tilts it over into the back. It then places the bin back and driver is already moving to the next bin before the bin has touched the ground. And within 15 seconds he is at the next bin.
Just as an additional note, I will mention that the local council also do a garden waste pickup twice a year. They send out plenty of leaflets beforehand with the exact date, and it is then up to the resident to do any tree cutting, mowing, digging, whatever and place it outside the house before that date. It will all be taken away completely free. Makes sense to me.
Rubbish collection in Oz is very efficient and quick!
Having only ever known British bin collectors, you know the ones that arrive in gangs of about 5 and a truck, drag the bins out of their storage making as much noise as possible, and an equal mess on the pavement. It seems to take them 5 minutes to do each house, and often they will not even take all the rubbish.
Well in Oz it is a little different. The truck has a driver and that is it. It takes him about 15 seconds to do each house. I am trying not to sound too excited about garbage removal, but believe me it is such a leap forward from what I have been used, it is hard to hold back the praise.
The reason it is so quick is a good combination of technology and scheduling. Each area has a different day of the week that the rubbish will be collected. Recycled waste is collected additionally every alternate week. People place their rubbish bin(s) at the end of the drive in the morning ready for the collector.
When the truck arrives, it stops at the bin, an arm pops out, lifts up the bin and tilts it over into the back. It then places the bin back and driver is already moving to the next bin before the bin has touched the ground. And within 15 seconds he is at the next bin.
Just as an additional note, I will mention that the local council also do a garden waste pickup twice a year. They send out plenty of leaflets beforehand with the exact date, and it is then up to the resident to do any tree cutting, mowing, digging, whatever and place it outside the house before that date. It will all be taken away completely free. Makes sense to me.
1 comment:
as you know, apart from the bin men dropping half of the rubbish, my bags get eaten by squirrels and foxes before the men arrive! i have to double bag most times. it's one of the drawbacks of living in a forest and golf course. the animals love chicken carcasses!
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