The Cambria County (Pa.) Solid Waste Management Authority has purchased hand-held computers that will help it keep track of its recycling operations. The computers are increasing productivity and accurately recording the quality and quantity of recyclables at the collection sites.

The county has 10 sites for collecting newspaper, glass and metal, the contents of which are recorded and picked up once a week. The drivers used to use pencil and paper to record the amount and condition of each load of recyclable material before taking it to the weigh station for processing. Then, they would spend time at the office entering the data into a desktop computer.

CCSWMA Executive Director Tanya McCoy-Caretti, contacted her brother-in-law, Ralph Caretti, for help in reducing the amount of time it took to keep track of the recycling materials. She wanted to consider the possibility of using a hand-held device similar to the ones used by package delivery companies.

With input from Caretti, a senior technical specialist at Pennsylvania State University's Technical Assistance Program (PENNTAP), McCoy-Caretti decided to purchase the Casio Cassiopeia palmtop and a database software. Caretti then wrote an application to manage the agency's specific information needs. PENNTAP, which provides free assistance to state businesses, industries and non-profit organizations to improve their competitiveness, trained McCoy-Caretti's staff to use the automated system.

The collections drivers use the palmtop to enter the amount of material they are collecting and to note if there is any contamination in the load. (Metal contaminated with plastic brings a lower price than a clean load.) Back at the office, the data automatically downloads into the office computer when the palmtop is placed in its cradle. The automated process saves the department 12 hours a week in data collection and data entry.

"For somebody like me, who's not a computer whiz, I found [using the palmtop] to be relatively simple," Collections Supervisor Michael Leib says. "It's very similar to the Windows program I was using in the office. So, it was just a matter of [touching a screen] instead of using the mouse."

The palmtop and software, which cost $1,000, were funded through a state grant.