No more early morning wake up? Noisy garbage trucks to be replaced by an underground ‘vacuum’ system that transports waste straight to the tip
- Residents in Maroochydore’s city centre are close to losing their rubbish trucks
- It comes as a high-tech automated rubbish removal system is being built
- Phase one construction is completed of the collection centre and some piping
- It will transport rubbish at 70km/h through 6.5km of pipes underneath the city
Noisy garbage trucks could soon be a thing of the past as one council begins building a state-of-the-art underground automated waste collection system.
The Sunshine Coast Council has announced that it will install the first automated waste collection system in Australia under Maroochydore city centre in 2016 – and phase one has already been completed.
The high-tech system uses underground pipes to transport waste out of the city centre at speeds of up to 70km/h through a system of pipes 6.5km long.
It will mean no more rude wake-up calls by noisy, early morning garbage trucks.
The rubbish will be vacuumed twice a day at speeds of 70km/h through 6.5km of piping
The rubbish will be compressed into sealed containers which will then be taken away for processing
The rubbish will be dropped into collection points around the city where it will be vacuumed twice a day through the pipes to underground sealed containers which compress the rubbish until it is taken away.
The collection points will be located in residential apartments, commercial buildings and public places around the Maroochydore city centre.
The system in Maroochydore’s city centre has already completed stage one including the link underneath apartments and office spaces to the 10m tall collection station the Brisbane Times reported.
It is hoped the start-of-the-art program will put an end to bad smells and rats, as well as dropping the costs of daily street cleaning.
The project was first announced in 2016 by Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson as he said the Swedish-designed Envac collection system would be used to create the first system of its kind in Australia.
The Maroochydore automated waste collection system will have collection points for general rubbish, recycling and organic waste
‘New urban developments in Stockholm, Seoul, Barcelona, London, Singapore and Beijing have all utilised the Swedish-designed Envac waste collection system – but no Australian city has done so – until now,’ he said in 2016.
Mayor Jamesion said he expected other major cities in Australia to follow their lead while he also outlined some of the benefits the system would bring.
‘I’m very proud the Sunshine Coast is leading the charge in Australia with this innovative waste collection solution and I’m sure other cities and major urban projects will soon be following in our footsteps,’ he said.
The underground waste collection system improves air quality by eliminating conventional waste services such as garbage trucks
‘City workers and residents will never have to walk past rows of wheelie bins or be woken early by noisy garbage trucks in the Maroochydore City Centre.’
Mr Jamesion said the system would cost $21million which would be fully recovered from occupants of the CBD.
The system is said to improve local air quality by eliminating conventional waste services and recycling rates as the system provides collection points for general, recyclable and organic waste items.
Phase one construction is already completed including the waste collection station and piping that links apartment blocks and office spaces to the collection station