ST. LOUIS — Don Ross, an industry veteran who serves as chairman of the National Waste & Recycling Association's board of trustees, is leading a new U.S. base of operations for a truck manufacturer.
Kollekt is backed by the Kirchhoff family of companies and also uses technology from an Italian truck manufacturer. The new company markets an automated side-loading collection vehicle that can handle the large Empire Bins, manufactured by Contenur, that New York City has piloted for multifamily residential buildings.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani has committed to containerizing all residential trash by the end of 2031, which the city's Department of Sanitation estimates could add up to 1.2 million more vehicle miles for collection. The process targets multifamily buildings, and the city has detailed plans to roll out 6,500 bins by the end of next year as part of the expansion.
Collecting waste from those bins will require specialized trucks, which is where Ross believes Kollekt can come in. The company markets a truck model that debuted in Europe in 1997 but has not achieved wide use in the United States, Ross said.
“This is a great opportunity for us to showcase a different kind of collection,” Ross said in an interview at RCon on Thursday.
Ross said he expects automation to bring several benefits to the industry, particularly when it comes to its workforce. Federal data suggests CDL license holders are older on average than the broader workforce, and the waste industry has struggled in the past to recruit.
Automated loading trucks could keep older drivers operating trucks longer and allow for others to enter the workforce by reducing the physical labor of tossing bags into the back of a truck, Ross said.
He noted those benefits are already starting to be realized on single-family collection routes, where automated side-loaders are becoming more common. Multifamily buildings have typically relied on dumpsters or bags placed on the curb, especially in New York City.
"This is another type of automated product addressing a part of the waste stream we've never been able to get to," Ross said.
Kollekt does not have a direct contract with DSNY, and instead has partnerships with dealers to market its trucks. Ross said he's confident demand for the truck will continue to grow, given the agency's plan to expand the use of the Contenur bins. Currently, he's not aware of any other trucks in the U.S. that could handle the system.
"As they scale, we'll scale," Ross said.
The truck's body is currently manufactured in Italy, and is combined with a chassis in the U.S. Over time, the company could grow to include a manufacturing base of operations in North America. Ross said he’s also working to set up a parts and support structure for the vehicles to allow for easier servicing.
While New York City is a proving ground for Kollekt, Ross said the company is exploring deployment in other cities in the U.S. and Canada looking for a new containerization strategy.
Ross was chief sales officer at New Way Trucks before it sold to Federal Signal last year, and has also held roles at WM. As an industry veteran, Ross believes Kollekt can usher in positive change in workplace operations.
“I think this is a technology that has meaningful purpose,” Ross said. “That's how I'd want to go out and be remembered, as someone who made a difference.”
