Underground Refuse Systems, which began in Kissimmee as a way to address the collection and smell of trash in urban areas by storing it in underground bins, has expanded outside the state.
The local company installed its system in the city of Ennis, Texas’ Historic Downtown. The city cut the ribbon in late January. And, this company that started out of downtown Kissimmee’s UCF Business Incubator, isn’t stopping there.
Company CEO Jay Wheeler said he and solid waste officials from there and Clearwater, where the system has been installed at Clearwater Beach and at BayCare Ballpark, the Philadelphia Phillies’ spring training park in that city, will be presenting the system to leaders from other municipalities.
They will present at the National Forum for Black Public Administrations in Grand Rapids, Mich., next week. URS recently welcomed municipal groups from all over the state as part of a Florida Black Caucus event in Kissimmee.
The city of Ennis used the new refuse solution as part of its downtown transformation. A city press release noted the URS “Smart City Technology” — sensors that notify city staff when trash or recycling bins reach capacity and need servicing from special trucks outfitted with proprietary technology to pull the containers from underground and empty them.
In a column in the Ennis News, the city’s move was said to have “trumped unpleasant waste and the accompanying odors and rodents … unsightly dumpsters are being prevented downtown and rodents are a contributing reason.”
Ennis has two units currently installed, two more in process and four more units are slated to be installed in the spring, with the rest of a 16-unit inventory installed as downtown revitalization projects continue.
“We are extremely thrilled to be in Ennis, and we’re already in talks with other cities near Dallas and Austin,” said Underground Refuse Systems CEO Jay Wheeler, noting talks are also underway with the Texas cities of Garland (population 239,000), McKinney (200,000) and Temple (78,000). “Things have gone really well, the exposure from Ennis has gotten us interest from other cities.”
The company also features portable units, which can be found around Kissimmee, like at Osceola High School, where Underground Refuse Systems ran a contest among ROTC students to recycle the most cardboard Amazon boxes.
