![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
MSW Collection Efficiency
You will need the free Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
Collection efficiency means getting more for less - picking up more solid waste or recyclables using fewer trucks or fewer people or less time. Dozens of local governments and haulers across the continent have demonstrated that residential solid waste collection cost-cutting strategies work.
Some of these strategies are based on using existing resources more imaginatively. Others require a major shift in paradigm:
- New equipment;
- New approaches to staffing;
- New set-out behaviors from residents.
The collection efficiency strategies described in these publications can have dramatic impacts on the cost-effectiveness and quality of service delivery.
Collection Efficiency: Strategies for Success (PDF) (20 pp, 912K) presents a brief look at some of the techniques communities are using to cut the cost of municipal solid waste collection.
Getting More for Less: Improving Collection Efficiency (PDF) (45 pp, 880K) provides descriptions and case studies of techniques communities are using to cut the cost of municipal solid waste collection.
