AVAC, Roosevelt Island’s Automated Vacuum Waste Collection System to Get Major Upgrade After More Than 40 Years of Service

AVAC, Roosevelt Island’s Automated Vacuum Waste Collection System to Get Major Upgrade After More Than 40 Years of Service

For Immediate Release

(New York, May 1, 2019) The automated, pneumatic waste collection system collecting trash on Roosevelt Island for more than 40 years, will soon receive a major upgrade. Roosevelt Islanders’ trash will continue to be automatically collected via a 20 inch tube, with a – whoosh – eliminating daily garbage collection trucks.

Envac Iberia has been awarded a $1.7 million contract by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. of the State of New York (RIOC). It will improve operations, reduce energy consumption, release more than half the space presently reserved for AVAC operations and provide at least 30 more years of automated waste collection to the Island’s growing residential population.

AVAC has been operated by the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) for 40 plus years relying on virtually the original equipment. The upgrade will bring 4 decades of innovation to the Island’s system, including remote monitoring and operations, and smaller, more energy efficient equipment. The upgrade investment is expected to be paid back in 4 years, in operational savings alone. Re-use of the significant amount of space released to be used for more profitable purposes, is under study by RIOC.

Roosevelt Island’s 14,000 plus residents will continue to receive vacuum waste collection services throughout the 6 -month upgrade. Built in redundancy allows the system to operate, despite sections being replaced and repaired. AVAC’s track record for reliability is well established.  Not only has it been serving the Roosevelt Island community for over 40 years, but it continued to operate during Hurricane Sandy. The Island was the only NYC sanitation district with uninterrupted waste collection when New York garbage was left uncollected on City sidewalks for up to 3 weeks during the blizzards of winter 2010-11, when garbage trucks were redeployed to plow snow.

Background

Envac (previously called Central Sug) headquartered in Sweden, invented automated, pneumatic waste collection over 60 years ago. It now has over 800 installations worldwide, which include residential communities, mixed use development, airports, offices, retail, hospitals and campuses.  Specialized systems service kitchens and public open spaces collecting litter with self-emptying litterbins. The system can be found in Paris, London, Milan, Stockholm, Seoul, Copenhagen, Montreal and Singapore, among other global cities.

Invited to the U.S. in the 1970’s for major installations such as Roosevelt Island and Disney World, Orlando, it thereafter refocused its efforts on Europe, the Far East and the Middle East. Envac US was formed in 2017, to focus on the US market.

Forty years of innovation include capabilities such as re-cycling, remote operations (including from a cell phone) 24/7 availability, data collection, “pay as you throw” and invoicing.  The system is climate resilient, particularly to flooding, making it an ideal installation for flood prone or water front areas.  As a sealed system from moment of waste deposit to compaction and containerization (which can occur up to a mile from a waste inlet) there are no spills or odors, eliminating rodent and vermin problems.  Daily trash collection trucks are eliminated as the waste and recyclables are collected via “vacuum” through a 20-inch tube. Independent studies have determined that an Envac system can eliminate up to 80% of truck miles travelled and resulting green house gas emissions.

Independent consultants have found the sealed system to be more secure than conventional waste collection, where bins open to the public can attract destructive attention seekers.  Israel is installing its third system.

For more information, please see www.envacgroup.com or contact:  Rosina Abramson, Envac US representative, rosina.abramson@envac.us, (212) 877 1281.

Contact: Lonnie Soury, Soury Communications, Inc., Lsoury@soury.com, (212) 414-5857.

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https://vimeo.com/179720425 (outdoor system), Roosevelt Island has an indoor system.