Many of the proactive cleaning programs operated by Baltimore City Department of Public Works’ (DPW) Bureau of Solid Waste will be spotlighted as WASTECON comes to Baltimore September 25-27. 

WASTECON is the Solid Waste Association of North America’s (SWANA) largest industry focused event. This year, WASTECON will be held in partnership with ISWA World Congress, organized by the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA).  Both events will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center for two great international events at one location.  Over 1,500 people have already registered to attend. DPW Bureau of Solid Waste will be spotlighted at the conference, including acceptance of a Bronze SWANA Excellence Award.

As an award-winning industry leader, DPW has aggressively enacted programs to combat trash and improve efficiencies in Baltimore.  Efforts include this year’s reorganization of divisions for focused, geographic quadrant cleaning. This new quadrant model allows crews to gain an increased knowledge of the neighborhood’s needs, which allows for more proactive and improved response to cleaning and to citizen concerns.  

This approach, along with DPW’s many collaboration and outreach efforts, were highlighted in a comprehensive news article that appeared this month in the industry trade magazine WasteAdvantage.

Among DPW’s achievements noted in the article are the switch from a reactive to a proactive rat abatement strategy, where alleys are treated and inspected on a 20-day cycle.  This, along with implementation of the Municipal Trash Can Program, sharply reduced rat complaints.

The Municipal Trash Can Program was named 2017 Project of the Year by the American Public Works Association (APWA) Mid-Atlantic Chapter.  In August, the program was named winner of the bronze award in the SWANA Excellence Awards Program. 

During WASTECON, DPW employees will make presentations on several panels, showcase its trash skimmers in the Marine Litter Prevention Tour, and provide a tour of DPW’s Quarantine Road landfill. Mr. Trash Wheel, a service of the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, will also be a feature of WASTECON.

The ISWA World Congress & WASTECON® 2017 provide opportunities for professionals in the solid waste and recycling industry to see what’s new in collection, processing, marketing and management of compost, recyclables and solid waste. For additional information visit  https://swana.org/Events/WASTECON.aspx.