Waste reduction and recycling are key elements of the New Mexico city’s commitment to sustainability and carbon neutrality by 2040.
The City of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has formally launched its Rubicon smart city platform, which aims to improve residential and commercial waste and recycling services for its more than 80,000 citizens.
The Environmental Services Division hosted an open house to demonstrate the technology in action last week and to celebrate America Recycles Day.
Six-month pilot
The City of Santa Fe has been piloting RubiconSmartCity for six months. It worked with Rubicon to tailor elements of the system to its operations. After the request for proposal (RFP) process, the City decided to move the programme forward out of pilot stage and awarded Rubicon a four-year contract.
The platform includes a mobile app, a plug-in device, and a web-based portal and the technology allows the City of Santa Fe’s Environmental Services Division to track key metrics including service confirmations, missed pick-ups, and issues at the kerb, as well as vehicle usage and maintenance information.
Rubicon’s technology is installed across the City’s entire waste and recycling fleet, numbering more than 60 vehicles covering more than 30 different routes.
Santa Fe recently passed the Sustainable Santa Fe 25-Year Plan, which reflects the City’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2040. The plan provides a roadmap to Santa Fe for a sustainable future, with waste reduction and recycling as one of the key elements.
“The City of Santa Fe is committed to sustainability and combining that commitment with ways to maximise the value of our services to our citizens,” said Shirlene Sitton, the City’s environmental services director. “Based on our experience with the RubiconSmartCity platform, we know that the data and insights we collect will help our department maximise our services to the businesses and citizens of our city.”
Michael Allegretti, chief strategy officer, Rubicon, said: “Piloting RubiconSmartCity, the City of Santa Fe was able to view and analyse data that helped the City improve customer service and help shape future policy decisions.”
RubiconSmartCity has been rolled out in more than 35 cities across the US, including Atlanta, Columbus, Fort Collins, Irving, Philadelphia and Spokane.
