Wireless Intercom Increases Efficiency at Waste Management Transfer Station in Illinois

Waste Management (NYSE: WM) has successfully tested a wireless intercom system to route arriving refuse trucks to the appropriate location at its Crystal Lake Transfer Station in Crystal Lake, Illinois. The system consists of an outdoor intercom placed along the path of arriving trucks, and an indoor intercom placed in the tractor-loader that is handling the incoming waste and recycling. When a refuse collection vehicle arrives, it triggers a motion sensing photo eye that automatically calls the loader driver. The truck driver does not have to press any buttons to activate the system. The loader driver presses one button to activate full-duplex two-way communication. According to IntercomsOnline, which supplied the units, they have eliminated the need for a person to route the trucks. The supplier added that the wireless intercom used for this system is unique. Most wireless intercoms work like two-way radios that require push-to-talk communication. However, with different size trucks arriving, plus mirrors that extend well beyond the cab, drivers cannot reach a button and press it. This new intercom is the only full-duplex wireless system of its type on the market. The trial was not without its challenges though. “In the initial stages of the trial we discovered that despite the integrated noise cancelling neither the indoor or outdoor intercoms had enough volume to overcome the noise of the truck and loader engines,” explained IntercomsOnline’s president, Tim Bruxvoort. “So the intercoms for Waste Management have been specially modified with increased volume. Once we made those modifications and adjusted the placement of the intercoms and antennas, the system worked perfectly.” Read More New York’s Cardboard Gangsters to Pay for Putting Recycling at Risk The New York City Council has approved a local law making it unlawful to remove or accept certain recyclable material in a bid to cut the theft of cardboard. 90,000 TPA Waste Transfer Station Underway in Gateshead, UK Construction work is underway on SITA UK’s new £8 million waste transfer station and visitor centre at Campground in Gateshead, North East England. WM Gets 90,000 TPA Material Recycling Facility Underway in Washington Waste Management has broken ground on a new 90,000 ton (81,600 tonne) per year Material Recycling Facility (MRF) in Spokan, Washington to process mixed recyclables.