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Split-body trucks are used to collect garbage and
recyclables in west San José by GreenTeam of
San Jose. Split-body trucks have two compartments
that are completely separated by a metal barrier.
By using the controls inside the cab, the truck
driver maneuvers a hydraulic “arm” to
lift and empty the contents of your recycling
cart into one compartment.
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Split-body trucks have separate compartments for recyclables and garbage.
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Split-body truck in action.
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Then the driver shifts the controls and raises the garbage cart to
the same place above the truck. The garbage
drops into the other compartment. This new
automated collection system is very
efficient. It enables
one driver to collect both the recyclables
and garbage in front of your home without leaving
the truck. (Except to position extra
recyclables or garbage bags labeled with extra
garbage stickers into empty carts for another lift by the automated
arm.)
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Truck driver uses controls to empty garbage and recycling into the correct compartment.
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Placing garbage and recycling carts at curbside.
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By making recycling easy for you, the Recycle Plus program hopes to capture everything that is recyclable from San José homes. All you need to do is keep garbage and recyclables separate. Put garbage in your garbage cart and recyclables in your recycling cart. Then place them 2 feet apart by curbside on your collection day. This distance gives the truck the clearance it needs to move between the carts.
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Split-body truck unloads recyclables at GreenTeam's Materials Recovery Facility.
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Workers sorting glass at a Materials Recovery Facility.
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Recycling and garbage are never mixed. Garbage is taken to the landfill. Recyclables go to a state-of-the art Materials Recovery Facility for further sorting.
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A worker moves bales of sorted plastics onto trucks that will take these materials to another facility for processing into new products.
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The trucks run on clean alternative fuels, such as biodiesel — a cleaner-burning fuel made from soy and other grains, cooking oil and sewer grease — and by PuriNOX — a diesel blend that reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by 14% and particulate matter by 63%.
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Bunkers of sorted clear glass, green glass, and brown glass will be sold to another processing facility that will use the materials to make new products.
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