The City of Cape Town’s Urban Waste Management’s operations city-wide continue to be boosted by the delivery of new vehicles.

Recently 10 new vehicles were delivered that will contribute to addressing delays in the collection and clearing of waste around the City. This is in addition to the two new vehicles that were received in March.

The latest vehicle delivery includes six paddle compactors for the emptying of 240l wheelie bins as well as four tipper trucks for the use of City Cleansing. These vehicles come at a cost of approximately R25,5 million.

Trucks are equipped with the latest technology, and operators will be subjected to training before the new vehicles enter service.

City efforts to resolve collection delays are seeing promising results. Availability of refuse compactor vehicles has improved from an average of 77% in March to 81% in April. It is hoped that new vehicles will further boost these numbers.

‘Every effort is being made to take care of our existing fleet, while we bolster the service with these new additions. Urban Waste Management vehicles follow an intensive servicing programme due to the high demand on the service. New checks and balances around vehicle repairs are in place and this adds to the downtime to vehicles in for repairs.

‘As we improve our refuse collections we appeal to residents to work with us to keep Cape Town clean by not dumping and reporting illegal dumping, ’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Urban Waste Management, Alderman Grant Twigg.

The following tips can help you prevent your bin from overflowing:

• Residents are encouraged to take their clean, dry recyclables to one of the City’s drop-off facilities. Alternatively, residents can make use of an accredited recycling collection company. Recycling eases pressure on collections services, in our landfills and on the environment. Recyclables are also typically bulkier than other household waste types, causing bins to fill up far more quickly than if they are separated.
• Where possible, residents are encouraged to practice home composting, as this will allow for further space in the bin.

Source: City Of Cape Town