3 Things You Didn't Know About Bin-men!

By Guest Blogger Erika King

NUI Student Erika King went with The City Bin Co.'s  team to learn what these early risers do! Here's what Erika learnt  on the frontline with the Bin-men:

Every day, the bin men tirelessly whisk away the rubbish we have set outside.  Chances are, you haven’t given much thought to what happens to your rubbish after it leaves your bin.  Although we all know bin-men do this great service for us, many of us may not know much else.  Wanting to know more about the day-to-day of a bin men’s work,  I decided to spend a day following them around.  Donning a bright yellow high-visibility vest and a camera, I spent a cloudy Tuesday morning in the cab of rubbish trucks.  Here are the top 3 things I was surprised to learn:

1.     Rubbish collection is highly systematised

Each driver has a planned collection route to follow.  And, for efficiency, one truck handles the rubbish of a route while another is dedicated to collecting the recycling.  The commercial trucks have a special communication system that notifies them of any businesses who require special stops.  A typical truck has one driver and at least one collector.  The driver keeps the vehicle moving, while the collector quickly, and I mean quickly, gathers all the refuse and throws it into the truck. These guys are super fit!

2.     The bin-men work together

Rubbish collection is a fast-paced and tough job.  The bin-men on a given truck have to cooperate to get the job done quickly and safely.  They  are working with a large and dangerous machine, the truck, so they have to be careful.  Communication and trust is key to successfully getting the job done.  As one bin-man told me, “A good team makes all the difference.”  They have to know each other’s work pace and rhythm to function as a team.  The teams tend not to fluctuate; a driver tends to work with the same collector. This means bin-men quickly become familiar with each other’s habits. These guys are super at teamwork!

3.     Recycle, recycle, recycle!

I am happy to report that recycling habits have improved!  According to the commercial truck driver, recycling has steadily increased.  Not only that, but they find fewer and fewer contaminated bags and bins.  By this, I mean that they find less non-recyclables mingling with the recyclables.  This is good news!  It means less material is ending up in the landfill! The bin-men are super happy because Dublin and Galway are super at recycling!