Sustainable waste collection - an entrepreneurial perspective
Mr James Poss (Big Belly Solar)
SOLAR SEMINAR SERIES Guest speakerDATE: 2011-10-24
TIME: 14:00:00 - 15:00:00
LOCATION: Engineering Lecture Theatre
CONTACT: JavaScript must be enabled to display this email address.
ABSTRACT:
We canat afford to depend on cold fusion, safe nuclear or sustainable fuels to avert the worldwide catastrophe of climate change. Todayas opportunity is in energy efficiency. Economically and environmentally, energy efficiency opportunities represent most of the progress we will make in the next 1-2 decades. Careers in energy efficiency can help you do good and do well.
Waste hauling is an expensive and polluting operation - trucks typically get less than 3 MPG. Hybrid trucks might one day deliver 30% fuel savings, and Landfill Gas powered trucks might one day make the fuel source more sustainable, but the true low-hanging fruit is compaction and information technology. Through compaction and wireless communication, BigBelly Solar has reduced waste collections by 83% in Americaas 5th largest city, saving money and fuel, and similar percentages in projects spanning 30 countries.
BIO:
Jim Poss, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of BigBelly Solar, is a globally-recognized innovator and entrepreneur. Jim founded BigBelly Solar in 2003 based on the idea of applying renewable energy to the complex and expensive process of waste collection. Over the intervening years and three product generations, BigBelly Solar is now bringing operational efficiency and environmental benefits to customers in every US state and more than 30 countries. Jim began his career in renewable energy with a Pew Foundation grant to build a wave-powered energy generator. He further developed his focus on renewable energy in technical and business roles with Spire Corporation (solar) and Solectria/Azure Dynamics (electric vehicles). Jim has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer and as one of Business Week Magazineas Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs. He is also an instructor in environmental entrepreneurship at Babson Collegeas MBA program. Jim received his MBA from Babson College with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and dual undergraduate bachelor degrees in Geology and Environmental Science & Policy from Duke University.
About BigBelly Solar
BigBelly Solar is a global leader in providing sustainable waste collection solutions, with satisfied customers across the United States and 30+ other countries. The company provides customer benefits in two core areas a" cost efficiency in delivering required waste collection services and development of more environmentally sustainable practices. Cost efficiencies are created by attacking unnecessary and wasted effort in the collection process. The dual-pronged solution marries on-site compaction of trash with on-demand real-time and historical information about the fullness and collection status of trash bins allows for better planning, route optimization and asset management. The result is a process that is optimized to deliver comparable service levels at dramatically lower process cost by reducing unnecessary collection. This is why BigBelly Solaras slogan is Eliminating the Waste in Waste Collection. More environmentally sustainable and fiscally responsible practices result from several aspects of the BigBelly Solar intelligent waste collection system. Every eliminated unnecessary collection results in fewer gallons of fossil fuel that are burned and subsequent pounds of CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions that are sent into the air we breathe, plus valuable labor hours are conserved and devoted to other priorities. Enclosed compactors and recyclers keep litter in and pests out. Companion recyclers promote separation of waste streams that keeps recyclable items out of landfills, and in some cases customer savings have funded expanded recycling programs. Environmental sustainability permeates the entire company, with Made-in-the-USA solutions that incorporate a series of environmentally conscious features, including a significant percentage of parts made from recycled plastic, RoHS compliant electronics and optimized packaging to protect units in shipment while limiting excessive materials and facilitating optimal shipping container usage to reduce shipment costs and fuel consumption.
BigBelly Solar is privileged as a company to focus on the innovative application of renewable energy and information technology to provide significant economic benefits to its customers and environmental benefits to the communities they serve.
