Cotswold District Council has reported savings of over £52,000 and an overall collection rate of 99.9% as a result of new in-cab technology installed in its waste collection vehicle fleet.
The district council installed the GPS technology in 2020 to improve collection rates and reduce service issues.
Delivered by Ubico on behalf of the council, the in-cab technology means that rounds can now be monitored and issues can be logged by the crews so data is instantly available on the performance of the collections.
Andrew Doherty, cabinet member for environment, waste and recycling, said: ‘Our percentage of missed collections was already very low, but we collect eight million containers a year over a huge area and every improvement makes a big difference. We have seen a dramatic reduction in missed collections, an increase in service performance, and a better service for our customers overall.
‘Our main goal is to continuously improve our waste collection customer service and I’m pleased that customer calls to the waste line were reduced by 31% within the first month of the system being introduced. This is made possible by new technology that allows crews to communicate directly with the depot and customer services, with enquiries or issues being responded to much faster.
‘Our residents receive a quicker response to waste and recycling enquiries and our household, garden, recycling, and food waste collections are improved. The system also helps with container deliveries, meaning that they are completed faster and more efficiently.’
