In a move to reduce the amount of paperwork garbage collectors have to file and in-turn ruin, Bury council in the UK is planning to roll out iPads to its fleet.
The iPads are going to be installed inside the garbage trucks, mounted to the dashboard. They will be used to document homes that refuse to recycle as well as keep track of residences that have not been setting their bins out at the curb. These tasks are currently all logged via pen and paper, a task, due to the nature of the job, which ends up with a lot of illegible paperwork and I’d have to imagine, smelly file cabinets.
Bury council has been getting the third degree from the public about this plan, as they were forced to cut £18 million from their budget. Many simply feel this is extravagant and that a pen and paper should suffice.
The iPads will also serve a more utilitarian purpose, though, that simply can’t be replaced. The route info for each truck can be programmed in to them, which will help the truck drivers avoid traffic jams by adjusting their paths on the fly. If executed properly, this could actually end up saving the council money in the long run.
