The City of Syracuse rolled out its sanitation cart program last year and it cut down on injuries in the sanitation department as city leaders strive for a cleaner Syracuse. The Department of Public Works is looking ahead to rolling out recycling carts.
Conor Muldoon, of the City of Syracuse Office of Analytics, said prior to the trash cart rollout, sanitation led the city with more than 300 annual slip and falls and strains to workers — more than four times the rate per employee of uniformed police officers.
“It's been a remarkable success from a safety perspective," Muldoon said. "Since the introduction of carts there have been no injuries that have required treatment related to carts and shoulder injuries across the board in the sanitation department have decreased from 17 per year to one per year and that one was not related to a cart.”
City officials say less than 1 percent of properties are frequent violators of improper setouts and more than 70% of violations are remediated correctly.
Now, the city looks to start rolling out its recycling bins.
Ann Fordock, of the Department of Public Works, said if the city gives residents the proper tools and education, she believes they can raise the city’s recycling rate.
“Our recycling rate right now is about 12%," Fordock said. "So that means out of the total solid waste produced, about 12% of that is recyclables and the rest is trash. And the national average is around 30, 33% for recycling rate. So we have a long way to go.”
Fordock said there’s also an economic advantage to increasing recycling. The tipping fees are less expensive —$100 for trash compared to $40 for recycling. If the city were to double its recycling rate it could save as much as $300,000.
The Syracuse Common Council will need to approve $2.7 million to purchase the new 96-gallon blue-lidded recycling carts. Rollout is expected after Labor Day.
