Fiscal Note
No appropriation required.
Title
Commending the employees of the Streets and Motor Equipment Divisions for their extra-ordinary work in implementing the single stream recycling program.
Body
WHEREAS, the City of Madison, Wisconsin was the first city in the nation to begin curbside recycling when it began collecting newspapers in 1968; and
WHEREAS, Madison boasts a 97% participation rate for the curbside program; and
WHEREAS, the City of Madison is the largest community in the country to have the entire city switch to single stream recycling at one time; and
WHEREAS, with the old system each truck made 450 stops per day and with the new system, each truck is exceeding 650 stops per day; and
WHEREAS, before single stream recycling, the City collected an average of 284 tons of material per week, and now the City has increased recycling tonnage by 117 tons per week (a 41% increase); and
WHEREAS, before single stream recycling, the City collected an average of about 800 tons of garbage per week and with the new recycling system the City has reduced refuse tonnage by about 57 tons per week which will save the City thousands of dollars in landfill tipping fees; and
WHEREAS, the Streets and Motor Equipment Division employees tested different trucks that simulated conditions in the field; and
WHEREAS, Streets and Motor Equipment employees did exhaustive research on the models of trucks and lifter equipment available and visited manufacturing facilities to inspect our new trucks as they were being built; and
WHEREAS, union members from the Streets Division served on the staff implementation teams, assisted with routing and mapping, and truck and cart testing; and
WHEREAS, the City expects to see worker's compensation savings of 50% because the new system does not require Streets Division employees to lift a lot of weight over their heads.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Mayor and Common Council do hereby commend the employees of the Streets and Motor Equipment Divisions for their extra-ordinary work in implementing the single stream recycling program.