Solar panel street bins will send text to collectors

DUBLIN city council is to trial solar-powered bins that can hold up to eight times as much as regular bins and send a text via a sim card to collection operators when they are full.

The Big Belly bins, which compress litter periodically through solar power, could keep Grafton Street clean, cut costs, and even help the environment.

City Council chiefs have agreed to trial the Big Belly solar bins in a bid to reduce collections of litter, save vehicle fuel and help keep streets rubbish free.

The solar compactor containers can cost anything over €2,000 against normal bins on the city streets that cost a few hundred euro.

The long-term savings though are expected to justify the initial costs. Up to 25 of the Big Belly Bins could be in place by next month.

The initiative was agreed by the city council’s environmental committee on Thursday night after Fine Gael councillor Eoghan Murphy successfully proposed introducing the compact waste bins.

The company signed up for the trial, Kyron, explained why the plush bins would save taxpayers money. Managing director Tommy Brennan said: “They cut down on the amount of fuel used in vehicles to collect the trash and also the number of man hours used to empty the bins. The rubbish is also totally contained inside and can’t be dispersed by wind or birds.”

Commenting on the motion, Mr Murphy said: “This is about being more creative in how we collect waste from the passing pedestrian – the idea of a litter bin as a simple rubbish box on the street is over.”

“The new solar bins will be able to hold up to 606 litres of waste compared with just 100 which the present bins allow.

“Modern technologies such as solar power and sim cards mean that we can get a lot more from the traditional litter bin, saving money and helping the environment while we do it,” he said.

Grafton Street is being tipped as one of the first streets that will see the bins.

The super trash compactors are already in use in small numbers in Waterford, Kerry, Kildare as well as Wicklow. The Big Belly solar bins are also proving popular with city chiefs in the United States, Britain and Australia.