European technology to collect everyday trash that debuted in America — right here in Kissimmee — might become a bigger part of the landscape.
You’ve likely seen Underground Refuse Solutions’ trash and recycling receptacles around downtown Kissimmee, along with its above-ground portable units about town.
It’s just a small portion of the city’s solid waste agreements. But, the city’s franchise agreement with Waste Management, which it uses for residential pickup, hundreds of dumpsters and the city's larger roll-off units (think the big bins on construction sites) expires within the next two years. After that time, the city will collect solid waste on its own, making its own contracts with franchises.
Jody Kirkendall, the city of Kissimmee’s Sanitation Supervisor, said he’d love to see more of the Underground Refuse Solutions technology in use around town — it involves the waste going into concrete receptacles dug underground, with a specialized truck using a small crane-like apparatus to lift the entire receptacle out of the ground to empty it.
“We’d love to see that system expand,” Kirkendall said. “Especially in newer townhome subdivisions. It’s easier to build the infrastructure when the whole community is being built rather than adding to an existing complex. In the future we’d love to see it more in residential areas.”
Those URS bins address odor and rodent problems, and can’t burn up or pose a problem in a storm like a hurricane.
“Other solid waste companies have old, obsolete technology, and they don’t want to evolve. The dumpster is 83 years old,” URS founder Jay Wheeler said. “This is also the only technology in the field that controls rodents. Trash collection is infrastructure, like water and utilities.”
Kirkendall said he was aware of the new technology that URS eventually brought to Kissimmee, the first American city to use it, before it debuted in the city.
“I see pictures of trash piles in New York City, and guys jumping off the truck to pick it by hand,” he said. “When I saw this being used abroad, I thought to myself, why is this not in the U.S.A.?
“And then we brought it here. It’s mindblowing how it works. NORD (the European company that builds and provides equipment like the special trucks) absolutely knows what its doing.”
There are imminent plans to add more of Underground Refuse’s portable units around the city, as well as a second specialized truck.
The technology is in use in Kissimmee, Clearwater Beach and Ennis, Texas. Kirkendall said he’s done demonstrations for other solid waste managers, and Wheeler said he’s working with cities and counties in numerous states to expand the system there.
