Dive summary:

• The University of Nebraska and North Carolina State University are conducting a study to quantify the emissions of garbage collection vehicles.
• The study will attempt to determine if, and how much, garbage truck emissions affect the environment and what kind of impact the current push to more green fuels has on those conditions.
• The Environmental Research and Education Foundation is contributing more than $200,000 to the project.

From the article:

The study will attempt to determine if there are connections between garbage truck emissions and ambient conditions, vehicle type and routing characteristics.

Due to the nature of solid waste collection, vehicles continuously start and stop creating significant potential for pollutant emissions,” states an abstract of the study by the Environmental Research and Education Foundation, which is contributing more than $200,000 to the investigation. “In addition to local air quality impacts from solid waste collection, a better understanding of the contribution of the solid waste industry to carbon emissions is also of crucial importance.” ...