Dive Brief:
- Environmental 360 Solutions will debut a fleet of 12 custom, four-stream trucks when it starts its new collection contract with Chilliwack, British Columbia, on May 1.
- The patented design allows drivers to collect garbage, glass, soft plastics and recycling in separate compartments during a single stop. “This allows Chilliwack to take the next step in innovation for their residents and to reduce the amount of trucks on the road” and reduce emissions, said Gavin Ryan, vice president of fleet for E360S.
- E360S worked with truck designer Rollins Machinery and side loader manufacturer Labrie to create a prototype that could accommodate four material streams while still fitting everything on a standard Peterbilt chassis and staying under legal weight for operating on city streets. One new feature is a special compartment to compress flexible plastics, a type of material Chilliwack residents have not previously been able to recycle in their curbside bins.
Dive Insight:
The fully customized truck fleet is part of E360S’ plan to offer tailored collection options for specific locations as it grows its presence across Canada. The BlackRock-backed hauler operates throughout Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan.
Chilliwack chose E360s for its new collection contract after a bid process. E360S hadn’t provided curbside collection services for Chilliwack before, but the city and the company have worked together over the years on an annual household hazardous waste event since 2024, according to the city. And, since 2021, E360S has been contracted to operate the city’s Bailey Sanitary Landfill, according to the city’s website.
At first, E360s proposed using its usual dual-stream automated side loaders to complete the curbside collection job, “a very common truck in our industry,” Ryan said.
But after some discussions with the city, officials wondered whether E360s could provide a three-stream option that had a separate glass chute, another common design in the region.
“Then they approached us again and said, ‘Would there be a possibility for a fourth stream’ That’s unheard of. It’s a first of its kind,” he said.
After months of design and testing, the result is a three-stream, semi-automated side load with a cart tipper that dumps bins into the main hopper as usual. The model has the special glass chute, which workers fill by dumping the glass bin in by hand.
The special new fourth compartment for flexible plastics is placed between the front of the truck body and behind the cab. “It’s like a miniature rear load,” with its own sweep panel and packer blade that can compact the equivalent of a 20-yard container of flexible plastic material into an estimated two-and-a-half-yard space, he said.
E360S did not share the price tag for the custom trucks it ordered, but Ryan said the company sees the fleet improvements as a worthwhile investment. In the future, Ryan sees the new four-compartment truck as an opportunity to show other municipalities in both BC and other provinces that there’s potential for new collection strategies. This comes as provinces like Alberta and Ontario update their extended producer responsibility programs, which may influence how collection contracts are written.
“When these bids come out, we try to approach the municipalities and give them as many options as possible, not only from an efficiency standpoint, but also for cost controls, and from the environmental factor,” he said.
Flexible plastics are already recyclable for residents throughout BC, but mainly only at certain depots and drop-off locations. Chilliwack’s recycling website defines flexible plastics flexible plastics as most kinds of plastics that can be bent or shaped without breaking, “such as plastic bags and overwrap, stand-up and zipper lock pouches, bubble wrap, woven and net plastic bags, and crinkly food packaging.”
Though curbside collection of flexible plastics will be new for Chilliwack residents, overall collection efforts for the material have ramped up in the province in recent years. Recycle BC, the not-for-profit producer responsibility organization that manages paper and packaging EPR in British Columbia, has slowly expanded its flexible film recycling options, including by adding new curbside collection offerings in some cities.
Recycle BC recently updated its recovery targets for flexible plastics, which is a 50% recovery rate by 2027. That goal may spur more investments like E360S’.
To accommodate Chilliwack’s new program and truck configuration, residents will receive standardized carts for garbage and recycling and a new 57-liter pink bin for flexible plastics, according to the city. Chilliwack estimates residents can start setting out flexible plastics for collection by June. Pink bins are also used throughout other parts of BC for flexible plastic collection.
In the United States, flexible plastics aren’t typically collected at the curb, but companies may take a closer look at pilot programs or other investments or innovations as more U.S. states adopt EPR for packaging laws.
E360S recently started testing the truck on the street, which Ryan said came after Rollins tested soft plastics compaction components at its facility by continually feeding the trucks with material.
The real test will come once the trucks are regularly operating on the streets, he said. “Chilliwack is very rugged and hilly, and this is something that will evolve and may mean we make a few modifications over time,” he said.
E360S is also upgrading its trucks in other parts of BC, though Chilliwack will be the only city with a four-stream configuration so far. Kelowna, where E360S has been operating for the last five years, will get new three-stream ASLs soon, he said.
“This is a chance to really showcase what this can do,” he said.
This story first appeared in the Waste Dive: Recycling newsletter. Sign up for the weekly emails here.
