Case Study: Recology achieves and exceeds California's 75% recycling mandate and streamlines routing with RouteSmart Technologies

How Recology Overhauled its Routing System to Exceed California’s 75% Recycling Mandate

Recology, Inc., a San Francisco–based resource recovery company serving residential and commercial customers for over 90 years, faced a major operational challenge when local and state mandates required dramatic increases in waste diversion. To meet goals (75% diversion by 2010 and ultimately zero waste), Recology converted to dual-use garbage/recycling vehicles plus separate organics trucks—a change that demanded a complete rerouting solution for dense, hilly neighborhoods and large apartment complexes. Recology selected RouteSmart Technologies’ RouteSmart routing software because of its focus on dense residential routing and ability to model complex urban geography.

Using RouteSmart Technologies’ RouteSmart, Recology modeled and implemented new residential routes in a collaborative rollout with management, supervisors and drivers, generating detailed route reports and time targets to improve accountability and streamline operations. The optimization helped drive measurable results: Recology’s changes contributed to San Francisco reaching 52% recycling by 2002 and the city now diverts about 80% of waste; subsidiaries also saw operational gains, including an estimated $7,000 per week saved on overtime at one company, and widespread adoption of RouteSmart for planning and new-business bids.

Recology

Amy MA

Routing Specialist