Is That the Ice Cream Truck?

I worked in the trash business in United States for about twenty-five years.  I started in a high school recycling center.  After that, I drove a residential collection route and operated all kinds of equipment in a recycling processing yard, hey, I just did it all…trash wise.  When I left to do something else, I was working in the executive offices.  Garbage was my life.

I watched the industry change from hand loading the truck to automated collection.  When I was driving, I had to stop the truck, get out, pick up the can and dump it myself, rain or shine.  The drivers these days push a couple of buttons, and the truck loads itself. 

Waste collection in Taiwan is done very differently from how it is done in the US.  Collection in America is usually weekly.  They give you this big giant can and you load your trash in there, then once a week they show up and dump it!  Recycling is collected either weekly or every two weeks.  The items accepted are very limited.  In Tucson, they wouldn’t collect glass bottles.  If you wanted to wash them, separate them by color, and haul them out to a collection center they would grudgingly accept them.  Taiwan recycling collection vehicles take everything from glass bottles to wooden goods.  The trash trucks are even equipped with barrels for the collection of food waste.  They use it to feed the pigs…This does not happen in America, except possibly in some rural areas where there are a lot of pig farmers. 

Another difference is in the vehicle and collection method.  In Taiwan, the trucks are rear loader vehicles.  These trucks collect in each neighborhood daily.  As they travel down the street they play music, to notify residents to bring out the trash and throw it into the truck.  The customers load the trucks, themselves.  The truck barely stops.  It is followed closely by the recycling collection truck.  The recyclables are handed to an attendant who rides on the vehicle.

Collection in the US is weekly.  Recycling (at least in Tucson) is every other week.  The driver stops in front of the house and the truck loads itself.  They start at 7:00 am, and if your can isn’t out there, it doesn’t get picked up.

Finally, the biggest difference is the music.  The only trucks in residential areas that play music in America sell ice cream.  Americans are conditioned to want ice cream when they hear that music!  Personally, I think it’s nice to have music play when the trash man comes.  It is a nice marriage of beauty and function.  Taiwanese people think of everything!

Tucson Trash Truck and my Granddaughter Elle

Some Photos and video by Crisel Joy Bringula