City Controller: Philly threw millions in the trash through 'solar' garbage bins

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1 City Controller: Philly threw millions in the trash through 'solar' garbage bins Written by Hayden Mitman June 22, 2017 Since 2009, the City of Philadelphia has spent more than $6.5 million on solarpowered BigBelly Trash Compactor trash cans, located throughout the city. But City Controller Alan Butkovitz said Thursday that the city might have just as well thrown the money in, well, the trash. In 2009, his office questioned the city's purchase of 800 of the trash-compacting trash cans, which were touted as a way to save the city money on collections, as trash trucks wouldn't have to collect as often - since these compacted trash - and, each of the $3,700 BigBelly units was supposed to communicate with the Streets Department, to let drivers know when they were full. But, he said, there is no evidence that the city saved any money from these units. Then, seven years after the city first purchased these unit, Philadelphia bought another 300 of them. Still, he said, in the years they have been installed on sidewalks across Philadelphia, the city hasn't been able to provide any info that these units saved any money at all versus standard wire trashcans, which cost about $100 a piece. "None of this was true in 201 O," said Butkovitz of claims initially made about the Bigbelly devices saving taxpayer money. "And, none of it is true now." In fact, Butkovitz said that not only did these solar-power trash compactors waste $6.5 million of taxpayer money for their purchase, they continue to waste money by having

2 to be replaced when they break. And, broken or malfunctioning units, he said, take cleanup crews longer to empty than a standard trash can does. Members ofbutkovitz's office have been documenting issues they have seen with BigBelly trash compactors throughout the city. They have released a video of their findings, to show some examples of the issues that, Butkovitz said, are apparent throughout the system. In fact, according to Butkovitz' s office, over just a two day period, one-third of all the BigBelly trash compactors investigators encountered were not working correctly. Overall, Butkovitz said, the BigBelly trash system is "practically useless," claiming the city purchased expensive, high-tech equipment and wasted the devices by not properly monitoring the system and not utilizing the technology. "This was touted as a high-tech cost savings," said the city controller. "But, we'd like it monitored to know that's true." However, some ofbutkovitz's concerns could be addressed immediately, as on Thursday, City Council was set to vote on a bill that would allow the city to generate a profit from BigBelly trash compactors through ads and would allow the Philadelphia Municipal Authority to take over maintenance costs of the units. Results of that vote were not immediately available.

3 <lrlit )Pliilabtlpliia Jnqnirtr City says new trash cans coming; Controller says they're a waste Written by: Julia Terruso June 22, 2017 City Council approved a pending deal Thursday to bring 275 new trash compactors to Center City, on the same day City Controller Alan Butkovitz issued a report calling the existing trash cans ill-maintained and a waste of money. The new compactors, fitted with foot pedals, will be provided free to the city in exchange for advertising rights. Under the contract, which has not been finalized, 125 existing compactors would be refurbished. The city has 975 solar-powered trash compactors, positioned mostly around Center City and in commercial corridors. The first 300 came to Philadelphia starting in City officials have paid $4.5 million for the compactors, funded through various grants. The compactors cost $3, 700 each, and can send electronic alerts to the Streets Department when nearing capacity. The compactors hold five times the waste of the previously used wire trash cans, which cost the city $100 each. But over the last seven years, many have fallen into extreme disrepair. They overflow with trash, their doors hang open, and aluminum handles are often stolen to be sold as scrap metal, rendering the compactors useless. Butkovitz, who released a report critical of the compactors in 20 I 0, issued a follow-up Thursday. He said many of the same issues remain. Most alarmingly, a software system that monitors the cans has been down since January, leaving approximately eight out of 10 cans with no way to alert the Streets Department when full. The compactors, which were under warranty for only four years, break down often enough to require a five-person city maintenance team to fix them. Butkovitz noted that when maintenance and parts costs are factored in, the city has paid $6.5 million for the compactors over the last seven years. He played a video of a city worker struggling to empty a packed can, set to ominous music. Butkovitz called the new contract, which will outsource some maintenance work, an acknowledgment of some of the current program's flaws.

4 "I think this is an acknowledgment that the city was not able to handle the maintenance issues," Butkovitz said. "Basically it's an acknowledgment that the city's role for the last seven years hasn't worked." Butkovitz said he was optimistic about the new deal but wants the city to do a better job of monitoring how much manpower goes into taking care of the high-tech trash cans. "We know that what they're describing as their goal sounds hopeful, and it appears to address the issues we're raising here. Of course the whole thing is execution, so that will have to be determined in the future," he said. While the city initially claimed the compactors could save $13 million in personnel costs over 10 years, the actual savings has been $6.4 million, according to Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams. "With regard to maintenance cost - that was one thing we didn't expect to be so high," Williams said. "We needed staff members to deal with vandalism and make sure they were serviced correctly." On Thursday, City Council gave the green light to the city to enter into a new agreement with BigBelly - the lone bidder - and the advertising firm Green City Solutions LLC. Under the agreement, Green City will pay for the 275 compactors and their maintenance and cleaning in exchange for advertising rights. The city will still empty the cans and receive 5 percent of advertising revenue to put toward the 975 older cans, which they will continue to maintain. Williams called the agreement a "state-of-the-art deal for Philadelphia." He said the addition of new Center City trash compactors will allow the city to spread some of the existing compactors to neighborhoods and commercial corridors currently without them. The Streets Department is also looking into adding foot pedals to the old compactors. Williams said the department had received several complaints about the handles: "We heard our citizens saying, 'We don't want to touch that.'"

5 I SCBSPhiUy City Controller Trashes Philadelphia Bigbelly Compactors Written by: Steve Tawa June 22, 2017 PHILADELPHIA (CBS)- The City Controller says those Bigbelly trash compactors around Philadelphia are in a sorry state. And, he claims, they're not working as advertised. But city officials strongly disagree with his findings. The Bigbelly Solar compactors created a buzz when first installed in Center City in They were supposed to be smarter than those old wire mesh trash receptacles that were always overflowing, and were intended to make our streets cleaner, save money, and improve the environment. But, Controller Alan Butkovitz is trashing the system. "While the Bigbellys were promoted as a tool to reduce the collection rate, with their ability to store more trash, there's been no sufficient documentation to substantiate any financial savings," Butkovitz said. Butkovitz says there's no viable work order and maintenance tracking system, and the original Bigbellys, many of which he says are disgusting, are reaching their life expectancy. Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams disputes Butkovitz's claims that the Streets Department has not done a comprehensive cost benefit analysis. "We're saving about $650,000 per year with the decreased collection costs," said Williams. Williams says they've reduced the frequency of collections from 17 per week at the old litter bins, to 3.5 per week at each Bigbelly. "And that's because of the collection efficiencies of the Bigbelly unit, allowing us to maximize five times as much trash in a unit, as opposed to a wire basket," he said.

6 ,,,--.\ Williams acknowledges that the city did not account for some of the ongoing maintenance issues, high usage, and vandalism. He says the new contract, just approved by City Council, calls on the company, not the city, to clean and maintain the units, at no cost to the city. And, he says, the compactors will be placed on a routine inspection schedule. Butkovitz also says its software system is supposed to notify crews when trash compactors are full, but because of a significant outage for the last six months, more than eight-of-ten units have had no communication. Williams says that's true, because AT&T shut down the 2G network, and the Streets Department is in the process of upgrading the Bigbelly's network system to a new 3G network. There's also good news for those with a phobia about pulling the handles on Bigbellys to load in trash. Williams says the city will acquire 275 brand new units with foot peddles. "At no cost to the taxpayer, in exchange for the rights to advertise on the Bigbellies. The majority of the new units will be placed in Center City, with the foot peddles," Williams said. As for why the foot pedals make such a big difference: "Sanitary reasons. They get mucked up with garbage, and people don't want to touch them," Williams explained. Philadelphia was the first big city to use the Bigbelly units in large numbers. There are 975 Bigbellies citywide, including 475 in Center City.

7 ' 7 ~ICE ~'--'.corn Controller: Philly's high-tech trash cans are a costly waste Written by Daniel Craig June 25, 2017 Philadelphia's 1,000 high-tech trash cans, which cost $6.5 million, don't save the city any money and in many cases don't work properly, City Controller Alan Butkovitz said Friday. Butkovitz released an audit of the BigBelly trash cans, which were installed mostly throughout Center City in 2009 and are supposed to collect more trash than traditional wire baskets. The BigBelly cans use a solar-powered software system that condenses trash and is supposed to notify sanitation workers when a can is full. However, when the audit was conducted, the notification system wasn't working in 82 percent of the cans, Butkovitz said. "This means the system was practically useless," Butkovitz said. "Sanitation crews had to collect the garbage at the same collection rate as with the standard wire baskets." Additionally, there were "numerous damaged, non-working and unsanitary" BigBelly cans on the street and in storage. Butkovitz's review came a day after City Council approved a deal for 275 new cans from BigBelly. The new cans will now have foot pedals and are being provided free of charge in exchange for advertising rights, according to the Inquirer. The Controller's Office chided the Streets Department for not conducting a thorough cost benefit analysis of the cans, which cost $3,700 a pop, and for not having a viable work order and maintenance tracking system in place, meaning repairs "languish for months or sometimes years." One can near the corner of 4th and Market streets had a missing handle for three months in 2016, according to the audit. Butkovitz recommended reviewing the costs of the BigBelly cans, pursuing reimbursements for the lost use of the nonworking solar system and developing a working tracking system for new parts and repairs.

8 I> Waste DIVE Philadelphia controller says Bigbelly trash system 'was practically useless' Written by Cody Boteler June 23, 2017 Dive Brief: Philadelphia received "no valid cost savings" from a $6.5 million investment in Bigbelly Solar trash cans, purchased in 2009, according to a press release from Philadelphia Controller Alan Butkovitz. An audit from the Philadelphia Streets Department indicated that the software - with an annual cost of $130,000 - has experienced a "significant" outage since January, leaving up to 82% of the units unable to communicate. The controller added that the city "wasted" the opportunity that Bigbelly units presented by not properly monitoring the trash cans. The audit included dozens of photos of Bigbelly units that had missing or broken handles or significant cracks. The audit said that because the units weren't communicating with the software, the city was unable to properly maintain or service the units. Bigbelly has not yet responded to a request for comment. Dive Insight: Many urban - and suburban - areas have reported financial savings and cleaner streets since Bigbelly units were purchased and installed on their respective streets. Bigbelly units collected over 100 million gallons of waste in 2016, demonstrating widespread and successful implementation of the systems. While there are competitors like SmartBin, Bigbelly has the largest market share of "smart" consumer waste collection units. Philadelphia, at the end of 2016, created a "zero waste cabinet" with a goal of getting the city to zero waste by Since then, the city has used GIS technology to survey litter and members of the city council have shown an increased interest in how waste and illegal dumping impact quality of life in the city. It makes sense that the city would invest so much money in Bigbelly units to maintain these clean efforts - but the findings from the controller's office are troubling. The controller said that the Streets Department hasn't conducted a cost benefit analysis or created a "viable" work order and maintenance tracking system for

9 repairs on units. With hundreds of millions of gallons of waste to collect and other cities reporting success - or, at least, not experiencing failures - with Bigbelly or similar units, Philadelphia's audit is an outlier. The trouble may indicate that Philadelphia and other cities need training on using more high-tech waste management equipment, which will be a trend as smart city development makes for the opportunity to implement connected and complex devices citywide.

10 - ) ) - -- ~---- ~ ',,' ',,' ' '-"'''. '... '4'-ftr-l,~$rh~~ ffi. 1 lri1:u.' -:sfot>~aa.,..~!tlt~::.t(~ j~'il,<-!~t ,..,. ~tt~i\f.wff~\~... 1tcct r t llrt l@ittlp1pdmt8w t '( r rt 11-~~»J!)11~,J,ll1;(Lt)V~'YIM,,., "t ;~'f,... N.,....,,...,.,,.,. NEWS I DN V~ICES DI/) lv N laj s ob - 2..lo - ;i_ o t 1- ~e\ A:~ LA---1 ~ Why high-tech trash cans are a BigBelly flop I L ET'S.A~,~,. STU BYKOFSKY stubyko@phillynews.com trash talk. Yes, I know there are "bigger" issues - $500 million for rebuilding municipal assets, a lack of affordable housing, the trial of the DA, the mistrial of America's Dad, the conviction of political heiress Renee Tartaglione - but street-corner trash cans are something we can get our heads around, even though we wouldn't touch one with a 7-foot Latvian, such as the one just acquired by thesixers. I'm talking about the flawed, high-tech, solar-powered trash compactors known as BigBelly that need replacement. The first started hitting the streets in 2009 and Philadelphia now is the proud possessor of 975 of them, mostly in commercial corridors and C-enter City. The whole deal cost the eitv $4.5 million - at first.. but there '~as more to eome.. That~ s small potatoes in a $4 billion city budget, but it illu.._~tes an annoying tendency on the part of some city officials to b blinded by shiny objects ("solar powered") and to backseat common sense. Is it possible no one road tested them as yo1:1 would a car? They looked all right, kind of like R2D2's older, bigger cousin, but anyone trying to use it immediately would have detected two flaws. First, BigBelly has a handle to pull open its maw. Those handles soon became filthy - quite a surprise - and repulsive, especially to women who are more grimeaverse than men. Does that sound sexist? Stick your head into a typical single guy's bathroom, if you dare. Regarding the handles, Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams quoted citizens as saying, "We don't want to touch that thing." Ah, but others did want to touch that thing - thieves who stole the aluminum handles and sold them for scrap. With no handle, BigBelly was on a starvation diet, inoperable. Second, because BigBelly has a handle, throwing something into thecanrequirestwohands~one to pull down the door, another to drop the object in. If you are carrying a purse'.7 or a brief case, or a cell phone. using BigBelly is a problem. The high-tech things cost $3,700 each, as opposed to $100 An abused, mangled BigBelly at Broad and Bainbridge Streets. each for the no-tech wire baskets which they replaced. BigBelly works off a 12-volt battery powered by a solar panel and reportedly holds five times more trash than wire baskets. Busy ones overflowed anyway, and the technology that was to alert the Streets Department when they were nearing capacity often failed. The trash compactors broke down and the city needed a five-person squad dedicated to fixing- that, an unforeseen expense. In a cost analysis, city Controller Alan Butkovitz reported that STU BYKOFSKY I Staff when maintenance and parts were factored in, the trash compactors cost the city more like $6.5 million because of bad technology. Not as bad as cell phones and hover boards that spontaneously burst into flames, but bad enough. Even though a Butkovitz report waved a caution flag at the trash compactor program in 2010, it took another seven years for city to attempt to fix the problem. It did that last week when City Council approved a deal to bring in 275 new, improved trash compactors. Two big positives: the nevl ones will have a foot pedal for opening the door, and the city will get them free in exchange for advertising rights. The new deal also will outsource some of the maintenance work. "Basically it's an ackno\\i"ledgment that the city's role for the last seven years hasn't worked,'' said Butkovitz, who is seen as a possible mayoral candidate in Williams said while the city initially claimed the trash compactors would save the city $13 million in personnel costs over 10 years, the actual savings has been half that - $6.4 million - because of the high maintenance costs. When the new trash compactors arrive, Williams said, some of the existing ones can go into neighborhoods and other commercial corridors. Streets is looking to retrofit them with foot pedals. Let's be real. Without foot pedals you're just relocating the problem to the neighborhoods, offering them something they'd rather not touch, not even with a 7-f oot Latvian. ~ bykofss@phillynews.com

11 wastes. Philadelphia, BigBelly Sign New Deal Despite City Controller's Critical Audit Despite findings questioning the bins' efficiency, the Philadelphia Streets Department has signed a new contract with Bigbelly and purchased more compactor bins. Megan Greenwalt I Jul 12, 2017 Philadelphia's City Controller Alan Butkovitz recently issued a follow-up review of the Department of Street's Bigbelly Solar Compactors that found no valid cost savings from $6.5 million spent on the high-tech waste bins. But Carlton Williams, commissioner of the Philadelphia Streets Department, and officials at Bigbelly disagree with these findings. What's more, the sides have signed a new contract between the City of Philadelphia and the Bigbelly brand. The City of Philadelphia has been using the Bigbelly Solar Compactors since The cloud-connected, web-based platform delivers real-time, actionable data about an area's waste operation. Bigbelly's suite of stations includes a compacting model to capture the waste volumes in high traffic areas, plus a standard capacity model for less busy areas. "Communities deploy smart, solar-powered, sensor-equipped waste and recycling stations that communicate real-time status to collection crews to enable efficiencies," says Leila Dillon, vice president of global marketing and North American distribution channel for Bigbelly based in Needham, Mass. Offered as a turnkey platform, each fleet is customizable and modular based on capacity, waste stream, and accessory needs including any Smart City applications add-ons. Customers can deploy their platform as a subscription, which includes services and support. "As the Streets Department was evaluating options for improving litter basket operations, Bigbelly presented a number of alternatives, which lead to a pilot with the Center City District who were also considering this approach; three units placed and tested in the district," says Williams.

12 After a successful pilot, the department evaluated various deployment and funding alternatives. It was determined that a large scale deployment in Center City would have the most significant impact funded with state grant over a three-year period, according to Williams. "Collections have been reduced from 17 to 3.5 per week and reducing collections on three shifts to one shift," he says. According to Dillon, Bigbelly was implemented in Philadelphia to keep streets cleaner and reduce their collections. The original Bigbelly deployment was made possible due to grant funding, not taxpayer dollars. Since that deployment, Philadelphia has reported a $650,000 annual savings. "Big belly has been working with the City of Philadelphia for almost 10 years... We also believe the Bigbelly deployment in Philly has been extremely successful," she says. In 2010, the controller's office conducted a review of the multi-million dollar purchase of Bigbelly Solar Compactor bins by the Streets Department. During that review many issues were raised including: The legitimacy of the possible cost savings, responsibility for overall maintenance, life expectancy claims and lack of contract compliance, according to the report. As the Bigbelly units originally purchased are nearing their purported life expectancy, the current review was undertaken to assess the program and progress made since the 2010 report. "The city purchased expensive technology in an effort to operate more efficiently and effectively," said Butkovitz in a statement. "Our report indicates the city wasted that opportunity over the last eight years by not utilizing the technology or properly monitoring the expensive trash cans." The controller's review of the 2010 report found that the Streets Department still does not have an effective or efficient system to manage the multi-million dollar Bigbelly system. "Unfortunately, the city did very little over the last seven years to correct the problems," said Butkovitz in a statement. "Instead, it purchased hundreds more, costing taxpayers millions. I again urge the city to conduct a thorough cost analysis, which includes supporting data and evidence, to determine the true costs of maintaining the high-tech trash systems." According to Brian Dries, director of communications for the Office of the Philadelphia City Controller, the latest report identified several other key issues, including:

13 The $t32,ooo annual software system that is supposed to notify sanitation crews when a trash compactor needs collected was not working. There was a network outage during the time of review, resulting in 82 percent of the Big belly units to have no communication. The Streets Department has not conducted a comprehensive cost benefit analysis of the Bigbelly system. There was no valid cost savings from the $6.5 million spent on the high-tech trash cans. Numerous Bigbellys that were damaged, not working properly and contained unsanitary conditions. Despite these findings, the Streets Department has signed a new contract with Bigbelly and purchased more compactor bins. "Following a competitive bid process, the City of Philadelphia is acquiring 275 additional units from BigBelly at no cost to taxpayers. The Streets Department is in the process of executing an agreement that will provide for the acquisition of BigBelly waste and recycling receptacles, related maintenance and software licensing, and authorizing an advertising concession at no cost to the City of Philadelphia," says Williams. "The agreement allows the city to acquire these new units without additional tax revenue in exchange for the rights to allow advertising throughout the duration of the contract period." Williams says the new contract also will require the firm to clean and maintain the units at no cost to the city. The units will be placed on a routine inspection schedule to ensure they remain in good condition. "The City of Philadelphia will also receive a portion of the advertising revenue over the duration of the contract period," he says. "These funds will be used to reinvest in an aging Bigbelly infrastructure and to make network improvements to extend the longevity of the entire network." Dillon says this program is largely self-funded, and comes complete with management software and services for ongoing maintenance. "Working in concert with Philadelphia and other cities around the globe, Bigbelly now offers a comprehensive service program enabling ongoing service, machine maintenance and collection optimization," she says. "In addition, Philadelphia leverages the Philly Future Track city youth job development program to provide additional service to their stations." According to Dries, city council recently adopted legislation that would allow the city to enter into a contract with Bigbelly and an advertising firm.

14 "Under the agreement, the firm will pay for 275 new compactors and their maintenance and cleaning in exchange for advertising rights," he says. "The city will still empty the cans and receive five percent of advertising revenue." But the Streets Department isn't ignoring the findings in the controller's report. "The Streets Department appreciates the controller's attention to an important program that thousands of Philadelphians have come to rely on," he says. To address the controller's concerns, Williams says: The Streets Department conducted a cost-benefit analysis and stands by the results of that analysis. The savings to taxpayers from the system are substantial-approximately $650,000 per year. These real savings are accomplished because the Bigbelly system has reduced the frequency of collections from 17 per week to 3.5 per week. The Bigbelly system includes an electronic notification system that allows the Streets Department to monitor the condition and status of the units. This includes immediate notification when there is a malfunction with the system. In 2009, the city purchased a four-year warranty on the Bigbelly system including the software network. The warranty expired in Therefore, the city has no legal recourse to pursue reimbursements for the network failure. The Streets Department is in the process of upgrading the Bigbelly's network system to a new 3G network. The new system will be completed by the end of the summer. The proposed new agreement will allow the city to share costs and system upgrades with the manufacturer for the new units. The Bigbelly C.L.E.A.N. software will be upgraded to allow the department to acquire better inventory management of the units. The new units will be placed on a routine cleaning and inspection schedule to ensure they remain in good condition. Advertising revenue will cover costs of extended warranties and communications services. "The city believes the new contract addresses all the controller's concerns and will improve the Bigbelly program to that it is truly one that Philadelphians are proud of," says Williams.