The City of Whittlesea, in Melbourne’s north, has developed a litter eating machine by adding its own snorkel vacuum system and litter catch cage to a standard Gator vehicle. It can cruise wide median strips and road reserves to clean up rubbish at more than twice the rate of someone on foot. Council’s Director of Engineering, Richard Young, said the Litter Gator easily patrolled more than 240km of roadsides a week, instead of the 145km usually covered by a standard vehicle.
“Increased efficiency enables patrols to return to a trouble spot more frequently than was previously possible,” he said. “Whereas rubbish collection might have only taken place at a site every five days, the Gator makes it possible every three days.”
Richard Young said Litter Gator could hold up to 1.2 cubic metres of rubbish.
“An average of five tonnes of rubbish is collected from the roadside each week. A Gator operator can travel over all sorts of terrain, collecting all types of rubbish without getting out of his seat,” he said.
The Victorian Environment Protection Authority already acknowledges Whittlesea as a leader in litter control because Council consistently issues the highest number of fines for litter offences.
The Litter Gator, developed by Council’s engineering team with help from a local Gator supplier, cost about $45,000.
“Further research and development is underway into whether the Gator can be used to retrieve material from street litter bins, and reduce manual handling of this task,” Richard Young said.
The Litter Gator’s technical features include the following.
- All terrain operation.
- 6×4 wheel drive for on and off road litter collection.
- Excellent manoeuvrability.
- Flotation tyre for mounting kerbing and traversing varied terrains.
- Low centre of gravity.
- Collection of litter from asphalt, grass and concrete.
- Collection of litter along fence lines.
- Rapid litter collection and travel speed on and off road.
Special consideration was also given to operator safety and comfort. The Gator’s Occupational Health and Safety features include the following.
- Rollover cab protection with 360 degree rear visibility.
- Power assisted in-cabin controlled vacuum arm.
- Elimination of manual handling of litter.
- Lights, mirrors and beacons for high visibility operation.
- Comfortable padded seats.
- No manual handling of litter and bagged debris.
