Wheely cool: Baltimore's Trash Wheel family ate a million pounds of trash last year
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore's favorite family of trash-eating robots, the Trash Wheels, reached a major milestone last year: the collection of over one million pounds of litter and debris in 2023.
The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore credits the historic milestone to a second consecutive year of operating four wheels, as well as an increase in winter rainfall helping aid collection.
Mr. Trash Wheel was installed in the Inner Harbor in May 2014, and in the last 10 years, the program has expanded to include Professor Trash Wheel, Captain Trash Wheel, and the newest, Gwynnda the Good Wheel of the West.
The larger trash hauls don't mean there is more trash in the water, the Waterfront Partnership said.
Since Baltimore's plastic bag and foam container bans took effect, the wheels have seen a 72% and 90% reduction in the collection of these items, respectively the organization said.
The trash wheels are maintained by the Waterfront Partnership as part of its Healthy Harbor Initiative to make the harbor swimmable and fishable.