Automated Vacuum Collection
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The Automated Vacuum Waste Collection System, also known as pneumatic refuse collection, or Automated Vacuum Collection (AVAC) system, transports waste at high speed through underground tunnels to a collection station where it is compacted and sealed in containers. When the container is full, it is transported away and emptied. The system helps facilitate separation and recycling of waste.
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[edit] History
The system originated in Sweden,[1] with the first one installed in 1961 at Sollefteå Hospital. The first vacuum system for household waste, was installed in the new residential district of Ör-Hallonbergen, Sweden in 1965.[2]
The inventor of the system, Envac AB (Sweden), is still an important supplier.
[edit] Current systems
The system is used in more than 30 countries.[1]
There are close to a thousand systems in operation all over the world[citation needed] - in China, South East Asia, Korea, the Middle East, the U.S, South and North Europe. In the U.S.A. this type of system is installed in several places but Disney World and Roosevelt Island are the most well-known.
Major cities in which the system is operating include Barcelona, London, and Stockholm.[3]
[edit] Planned systems
[edit] Europe
A system is planned to be installed in the new Jätkäsaari residential neighbourhood in Helsinki, Finland. All housing cooperatives and other apartment buildings are obliged to join the network. The system envisioned for Jätkäsaari would help facilitate the separation and recycling of waste.
Each building will have a collection point with up to five wastebins or tubes, each for different types of waste and with the capacity to store several parcels of waste. The underground tube network would act in a manner similar to a packet switched telecommunication network, transporting one kind of waste at a time. Once an input bin is filled, or capacity is available, it is transferred to the central collection site combined with the same class of waste.
[edit] North America
Roosevelt Island in New York City uses a AVAC system. Currently it is the only AVAC system serving a residential complex in the United States. A system is planned for a new City Center development in Carmel, Indiana. It would service condominiums, businesses, and a hotel.[4] The city of Montreal has also announced plans for an automated vacuum collection system for its Quartier des Spectacles entertainment district, now under construction.[5]
[edit] See also
- Transfer station
- Waste collection
- Waste collection vehicle
- Waste collector
- Pneumatic refuse conveying system
[edit] References
- ^ a b Chutes to suck waste from estate, BBC News, 9 December 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/7772752.stm, retrieved 25 November 2010
- ^ Envacgroup: Vacuum system history, retrieved 25 November 2010
- ^ James Glave and Terrence Russell:Montreal’s Subterranean Vacuum System Sucks Garbage Out of Sight, in Wired, June 22, 2010
- ^ IndyStar.com
- ^ Heffez, Alanah (2008-09-20). "Suck It Up - Underground Trash-Vaccuuming to Replace Dump Trucks in QDS". Spacing Montreal. http://spacingmontreal.ca/2008/09/20/suck-it-up-underground-trash-vaccuuming-to-replace-dump-trucks-in-qds/. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
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