Dive Brief:

• Rubicon Global has announced a partnership with Santa Fe, NM to bring its proprietary technology to the city's Environmental Services Division for a pilot program.
• The city's fleet of 40 trucks will have devices with Rubicon's mobile app that can share data for review through desktop vendor software. The goal is to create more operational efficiencies and improved customer service.
• This will also give Santa Fe more detailed information on landfill diversion and recycling rates, allowing the city to target education efforts and track emissions data.

Dive Insight:

This is the tech company's second municipal partnership after a similar deal was announced with Atlanta in December. Last month, Rubicon CEO Nate Morris told Waste Dive that he sees data collection as a key part of the company's model and emphasized the importance of understanding how materials are moving on a larger scale. Through a partnership with Trucost the company has the ability to provide more in-depth analysis of how material diversion and optimized routing relate to greenhouse gas emissions.

As Santa Fe works toward a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040, this data will be of particular interest when it comes to the 29,300 residential and 2,500 commercial customers that the city services. The city is currently in the midst of rolling out new recycling carts, with grant assistance from The Recycling Partnership, and has invested in seven new automated trucks. Following the lead of multiple other cities, Santa Fe has also stopped collecting glass in its curbside program.

Using the new Rubicon technology, the city can now get a deeper understanding of the difference made by these changes and continue to adjust accordingly. Based on Rubicon's plans, more municipal partnership announcements may not be far off.