Automated garbage pickup

In late 2009 the city of Hattiesburg decided to change the way garbage was collected after maintenance costs of their existing fleet of 18 trucks exceeded $100,000. In late July 2010 OTTO Environmental Systems distributed about 26,000 cans. Each household was provided two 95 gallon cans- a green can for household garbage and a brown can for yard waste. Household garbage will be collected once a week on either Mondays or Fridays (depending in the route), and yard waste will be collected either Tuesdays or Fridays. Each can contains an RFID chip that can be used to track each can. The cost of the new system is about $1.3 million for the new cans and another $2 million for twelve new trucks to collect the cans. Officials expect that the new automated system will increase safety for sanitation workers, as well as save money in fuel and labor costs. The number of sanitation workers will be reduced by the new system from 67 to 35, with many workers being transferred to other city departments. The new system is scheduled to begin August 9.