Educating cities and customers as well as effectively cleaning out dumpsters can help towards eliminating dangerous chemicals and making routes safer for all haulers.

Sheila Herrera

 

I’ve had 20 years around the trash industry. In 2002 my late husband started a successful trash company for investors, which became a family run business. Our daughter would answer the phones after school, our oldest son rode on the back of the trash truck and would put together the poly carts and spray out the dirty carts, and our two-year old son would decorate our office with his pictures from his McNeilus coloring books. It became a 24/7 job and everyone in the company all became a family. One day, my oldest son and my husband, Tony were on a route in Durango, CO servicing a commercial dumpster on a construction site. However, since the full load wouldn’t dump, Tony jumped in the dumpster and pulled the debris loose to finish the job. When he did so, he ended up breathing in an unknown chemical that was thrown away and inhaling the fumes, burning his lungs and chest. For nine months after the incident he would get sick every two to three weeks, unable to breathe, a hurting chest, dizziness and sweating. Ultimately, he passed away from the effects of breathing in the fumes.

 

The Importance of Education

The reason why I’m telling my story is because I don’t want this to happen to anyone else in the industry. Even though it is a painful and heartbreaking experience to lose a father, a husband, a friend and a pillar of the community, it has motivated me to make a difference. It is important to me that we educate cities and customers on the hazardous waste and odors from the chemicals that are coming out of the trash dumpster. Most people don’t know this because they just know what day to put their trash and recycling out and there really is no policing on what is going into those containers. Sure, we can send out fliers and bulletins about what cannot go in the dumpsters and cans but there will always be people who will ignore the notices. So all of these potentially hazardous chemicals get mixed with regular trash, becoming a cross-contamination to people that breathe them in. As these chemicals heat up, they turn into a vapor that causes liver and kidney disease, cancer and other health issues.

 

Recently, I took about 12 samples out of commercial dumpsters from schools, parks, public places and residential communities and sent them to NASA for testing. Some of the substances that they found were Phetynol-3, Methyl, Cyclopentasiloxaa Becamethyl, Benzendicarboxyl Acid, Dimathly Ester, Petroleum and others. I received reports from NASA that these substances not only make a negative impact on our environment, but they also cause liver, kidney disease, cancer, tumors (which is what caused my husband’s shaking and sweating) and other health problems.

 

Cleaning the Dumpsters

Even though there are facilities that do take care of disposing these hazardous chemicals, most people or companies will dump these substances into their trash containers because it is easier and cheaper, going unmonitered. They can be told not to do it, but it happens every day and, ultimately, these chemicals are a health hazard for the public, haulers and the environment as well as end up going into our landfills and recycling facilities.

 

So how do we prevent these chemicals from affecting people and the environment? The first step, of course, is education. However, another important step and the most common is to wash out the dumpsters on a consistent basis. Currently, dumpsters are powerwashed or a garden hose is used but hazardous substances that may be found in them can go back down the storm drains into our rivers and streams. There are about 13 to 14 companies that are providing this type of service. The dumpsters are cleaned on a scheduled basis, however most companies powerwash the dumpsters in the back of their trucks to contain the water. This is not cost-effective or efficient. What we need is a fully automated truck that can meet the demand, picking up the dumpsters and cleaning them out immediately on the route. Once trash is dumped, a company such as Clean Can Technology moves in to clean, deoderize and sanitize the dumpster in seconds, containing water on board to protect health and the environment. If we are going to make this type of service mandatory and cities want it, the demand must be met on a route. The dumpsters and cans should be cleaned out quarterly with a cost on an annual basis. I’ve always believed that the cities want this type of service and in my travels, I’ve found that Santa Monica was looking for a truck of this type for this service as well as the New York housing authority.

 

Taking the Next Steps

Currently, I’m working with cities and educating them as to what kind of hazardous substances and materials can be in lurking in dumpsters. Most people go through their day-to-day operations and don’t think about this issue—they just open the can, dump and run. So I’m working on educating people on the smell and the visual of it. It really is a public health hazard and dangerous to our environment. One commercial can loses 30 gallons of water per year. That don’t sound like a lot until you add it up over billions of cans and then it does have a big impact. My goal is to educate the public more on the dangers and health hazards of what goes in their cans and why they need to be cleaned.

 

Cities are always looking to keep their streets and communities cleaner in order to attract tourists and a lot of them like to lead the way in green. So far, I’ve talked to contacts in the cities and made appointments to speak with them about this type of service. I have not had one city tell me that this is not an added value service to the industry. In order to reach more people and communities about this issue, we need to reach out to legislative bodies, city councils as well as educate ourselves, the haulers.

 

I care about this industry and I’ve grown to love it and my passion is for making the waste industry safer to work in. I don’t want to see people getting sick from toxic chemicals coming out of the dumpsters or cans. I remember when we burned trash; I remember the horse and carriage. We’ve come so far with the industry that I’m happy to be a part of bettering it. This is in dedication to my husband because I don’t want anyone to go through what our family went through. I want to make the industry a better place.

 

Sheila Herrera is President of Clean Can Technology (Bloomfield, NM), a company dedicated to getting this type of dumpster cleaning service to cities, therefore completing the waste circle with this cutting edge technology. Clean Can Technology is seeking a partner to join in this venture. For more information, call (505) 486-0252 or e-mail [email protected].

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