City of Cincinnati Solid Waste Profile

Equipment:

Customers: 140,000 customers weekly, including residential and 12,000 small businesses (mom-and-pop stores, bars and apartment buildings with up to nine units)

Service Area: The city consists of 52 neighborhoods and covers approximately 78 square miles (2,835 lane miles). There are 3,900 city streets.

Services provided: Weekly residential curbside solid waste, yard waste and recycling collection; No fee collection of up to three large furniture items per week; No fee collection of up to four tires per week; No fee collection of up to three metal/white goods per week; Special Set Out Service for citizens with medical verification; Regular street sweeping; Recurring 14-week cleanup program in 20 highly littered areas; and Neighborhood Improvement Program once per year in 32 neighborhoods.

Tipping Fees: $26 per ton at Rumpke Landfill 4 days per week and $23.50 per ton at Bavarian Landfill in Kentucky one day per week. The city contracts with Rumpke Recycling for collection of recycled materials and pays approximately $1.58 per household per month. Tire disposal costs the city an average of $1.50 per tire.

Employees: 217, primarily sanitation specialists, sanitation helpers, sanitation cleaners, laborers and municipal facility workers, and some clerical and administrative staff. Collection crews operate daily with 33 two-person routes and four one-person routes for solid waste. Yard waste crews operate with 8 two-person routes and 4 one-person routes. A two-man truck operates from Noon to 8 p.m. to collect missed stops and late set outs.

Interesting Things Found in the Trash: mannequin head, money, live kitten (now a happy member of the collection supervisor's family) and a sofa involved with a high-profile local murder case.