Automated Contamination Detection

The Route Contamination Detection Challenges.

Identifying and reducing contamination in waste and recycling continues to be a major focus in an industry also striving for operational efficiency. With ever-expanding environmental legislation, like California’s SB 1383, increasing pressure is placed on haulers to identify contamination in yard waste, food waste, and in some cases, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW).

Haulers often bear the brunt of costs associated with rejected loads and fines incurred for non-compliance. In addition, added operational stress caused by implementing audits, expecting drivers to identify contamination, and other manual solutions, are highly inefficient and largely ineffective

Recognize about $6,500 of additional revenue PER MONTH, per commercial front loader

On average, about 15% of all commercial recycling picks are contaminated, based on data provided by several national and regional fleets. Given the hefty fines that come with loads with excess contamination—often a $50 to $100 per ton fee charged on the entire truck’s load—fleet owners have been on the losing end when their trucks pull up to offload at the MRF. And, for vertically integrated haulers with captive MRF and landfill operations, contamination drives higher operating costs, reduced processing capacity, and additional handling costs in transferring residues to landfill.

Fleets vary on the fees they charge their end users – but based on collected data, fleets utilizing 3rd Eye Route Contamination Detection can recognize almost $6,500 of additional revenue per month for each commercial front loader assigned to recycling collection.