Berlin signed a contract this week with Waste Away, Inc for a new fleet of robotic garbage trucks to start collecting trash from city homes.

Operated by a joystick (fun!), hydraulic arm trash trucks have been tried out in other cities, including some in the U.S.  They require bigger trash cans and allow for just one sanitation worker to man an entire route.  I guess the days of one guy driving the truck and another one or two riding on the back and hopping off to collect the trash are over.  While sanitation is hard, unenviable work, I hope this new technology doesn’t reduce the need for sanitation workers.  Our poor economy needs jobs!

Side note: in scanning the internets for images of these new trucks, I came across this gem of a children’s book: I Stink by Kate and Jim McMullan.  It’s the first-person tale of a garbage truck and companion reader to I’m Dirty, the first-person tale of a front-end loader.  Check out this totally endearing review over at A Wrung Sponge.  I’m adding both to my list of trash books for kids.