BigBellySolar.co.uk won the Industry Innovation Award 2011 at the prestigious 26th UK Plant & Waste Recycling Awards

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Industry Innovation Award

“This award goes to the waste management industry or organization that has developed an innovative procedure or process that furthers the progress of waste management”

Winner: bigbellysolar.co.uk and its solar powered compactor street bins.

“There was no doubt in the judges’ minds as to who deserved this award. An American innovation, the BigBelly Solar Compactor consists of a solar panel that powers a 12v battery which in turns provides the power for an internal compactor within the bin. Each BigBelly takes up roughly the same “footprint” as an ordinary street bin, but due to it’s compaction capability it can hold between 606 and 800 litres of waste which is eight times more than the average street bin used by most local authorities. A clear winner for the industry innovation award.“

See More Info or visit the PAWRS website

By Kyle Wilson

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Walking around the streets of the Pine Hills neighborhood it’s easy to notice the new solar compactors. These machines are all over the country in just about every major city saving money and redirecting man power.

BigBelly Solar is the organization behind this idea. With more than 100 installations in Albany, 93 trash compactors and 20 recycling bins have been installed. BigBelly Solar is quickly helping Albany and Pine Hills to cut down pollution.

“The aim of the solar compactor is to provide a much greener approach to life, while also blending into a college area. It appears to have a much more natural and contemporary look to it,” said Tom Owston, a customer satisfaction employee at BigBelly Solar. The trash compactors can be seen all around the Pine Hills neighborhood, but blend in with a much more aesthetically pleasing look.

The BigBelly Solar compactors have done more than just replace old garbage cans. The new solar compactors permit up to an 80% reduction in collection frequency, saving time and work.

“The new compactor actually sends out a text message to alert us when it’s full,” said Owston. Innovations like this one are designed to decrease pest activity and public health concerns, but most importantly set standards for energy consumption, all part of BigBelly’s “Go Clean, Go Green.”

“This system is helping to save on the carbon footprint of Albany,” said Frank Zeoli, director of recycling in Albany.

The new BigBelly system has changed the work process entirely. The garbage itself still goes to the dump, but the efficiency of the collecting process has improved dramatically.

“Instead of stopping at 100 trash cans every day, our workers only have to stop at 3 or 4. Everything from gas to man power turns into savings,” said Dan DiLillo, assistant commissioner of General Service for the City of Albany. The new garbage compactors have red, yellow, and green lights on them that display the amount of garbage that is inside.

Not many people know how much this new system is replacing and saving. The BigBelly Solar compactors save time and money, as well as keep our neighborhoods free of loose debris and pests. Rich Gould, an Albany Police Detective, said: “It’s a cool concept, and there’s a whole lot less trash blowing around the streets lately.”

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The Worldwatch Institute’s Climate and Energy Blog

This entry is the latest in a Worldwatch blogseries on innovations in the climate and energy world.

Like any major city, Philadelphia generates a lot of municipal solid waste (MSW). The trash cans in the central downtown area collect 30–40 tons every day. Where that waste goes, and how it is dealt with, are important issues, with greenhouse gas and other environmental ramifications. But simply managing the waste collection is a daunting task as well.

Until recently, Philadelphia had to make pickups in the city center three times a day, which stretched the city’s already thin municipal resources. Installing solar-powered trash compactors, however, has allowed Philadelphia to reduce its trash pickup burden dramatically, with associated savings and ancillary benefits such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, less crowded streets, and increased recycling.

These compactors, which have replaced 700 conventional trash cans on Philadelphia street corners (as well as in many other cities, campuses, and other locations around the United States), allow for up to 5 times as much trash to be held within a single 32-gallon container. They run similarly to any other trash commercial compactor in that a laser eye detects when the trash reaches a certain height within the collector and triggers a compaction cycle, condensing the trash into a smaller space.

There’s a good reason you haven’t seen compactors on street corners until now, however. They require electricity, and no one was about to run wires to trash cans on every corner. That is where the built-in solar panel comes in. A 30-watt solar panel generates electricity and is connected to a maintenance-free 12-volt battery to provide consistent power for the unit. The panel does not need any direct sunlight, and so the compactors can be placed in shaded as well as sunny areas.

The electrical equipment inside the compactor also includes an SIM card, which allows each individual unit to be monitored remotely from the sanitation department headquarters. This monitoring system tells the operator when a unit is nearing its full capacity, so that when tracking a group of units, the trash collection schedule can be optimized. System operators can also track any maintenance issues as they arise, and even how often each unit is opened.

Does it pass the laugh test?

Yes.

Solar-powered trash compactors simply take two technologies with proven track records and bring them together. And to look at them, they seem like any other trash can, just with a solar panel on top.

What does it bring to the table?

Efficiency.

Being able to store up to 5 times as much trash in each receptacle, and knowing exactly how full each unit is at all times, allows for fewer trips for trash pickup. In Philadelphia, downtown trash cans were emptied 17 times per week before the installation of the compactors, and this number is now down to 5. This means significant reductions in fuel consumption—leading to lower expenditures and reduced greenhouse gas emissions—and in the labor needed for waste management. It also reduces city traffic and wear on heavily trafficked streets.

Philadelphia used to have 33 staff positions servicing trash receptacles; it has been able to cut that number to 9. The workers no longer needed for trash collection are now collecting recycling. Much of this recycled material is due to the compactors as well. Many come with recycling units attached, which are the first curbside recycling systems in Philadelphia.

How scalable is it?

Very.

Any sanitation department could benefit from these compactors. The large percentage of MSW generated at individual homes and businesses, however, falls outside the purview of the compactor systems as they are currently used, limiting the degree to which they can be scaled. But that limit is not even on the horizon.

How close is it to commercialization?

It’s there.

Philadelphia has saved over $850,000 in one year and is projecting $13 million in savings over 10 years. Other cities using these systems include Boston, Banff (Canada), and Chicago, and many universities, including Arizona State, Georgetown, and Iowa State, have installed solar compactors as well. Payback periods can be as short as 1-3 years.

The final word(s):

A useful advance in waste management.

Solar-powered trash compaction seems like an example of a renewable energy-based product that fills a useful niche. It may not be long before such systems are commonplace in large cities and open, overflowing trash cans are considered obsolete.

See the Article

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Austin, TX - They may look like regular trash bins but inside the BigBellys there’s a lot more you can’t see. These containers are actually solar powered trash compactors.

“We are able to collect about four times as much as a regular public trash receptacle,” said Jennifer Herber with the city’s Solid Waste Services Department.

She said when the compactors are full it wirelessly sends a signal to city crews letting them know it’s time for pick-up, helping to keep down the cost of picking them up each day.

“For the first time we are offering recycling along with them,” Herber said is an added bonus.

She said people are more likely to recycle when given the opportunity. It’s why along the Drag at UT BigBellys can be seen everywhere, 19 of them in total.

“We’re having to empty out the recycling containers a lot more than we thought we would,” said Herber.

That’s because earth-conscience students are putting the BigBellys to good use.

“I think it’s a great idea since there are a lot of college students walking around with water bottles, papers,” said UT Freshman Kassandra Gomez.

The BigBellys are also helping the city achieve it’s zero waste goal.

The compactors are a part of a one year pilot program. If successful the compactors could be expanded to other parts of Austin.

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Jack Kutner is a businessman who’s not afraid to describe himself as an environmentalist. And it’s not just because he is CEO of BigBelly Solar, the fast-growing company that makes the trash bins with solar panels you’ve seen around your city or town.

After leaving a career that included a VP post at Merrill Lynch and CEO of First Data Corp.’s Investor Services Group, Kutner spent time teaching classes through a nonprofit he founded, Sustainable Lifestyles, about how small life changes can make an environmental difference.

In recent years, Kutner also co-founded a socially conscious cafe (Clear Conscience Cafe in Cambridge) and an all natural restaurant (Rafiki bistro in Cambridge). He recently shared his perspectives on the intersection of business and the environment with reporter Kyle Alspach.

Did your corporate background influence your environmental interests?
I guess I am a little cynical about the corporate world. … The people that work there aren’t bad people but you get driven toward such a single-minded set of goals that you end up making lots of decisions that aren’t necessarily good for the common good. That’s starting to change a little bit — companies with their sustainability programs, and their social awareness, and the like.

Along with environmental sustainability you’re also interested in promoting fair-trade products?
One of the things I’ve learned as an environmentalist is that to be pro-environment you have to be sort of socially conscious and pro-social responsibility as well, because the two end up going hand in hand. The coffee industry is a great example. Coffee is considered the second largest industry in the world after oil. If coffee growers get a fair price, and shade-grown organic principles are followed in the growing, then you’re having a massive global impact. That’s one of the best examples of how the two work hand in hand. It’s the same thing with small farmers — locally grown has a big reduction in footprint, in terms of transporting stuff, and also gets the local businessman better paid rather than a conglomerate.

What is your response to those who say economic growth and the environment are at odds?
That is 100 percent poppycock. Usually smart sustainability and environmental initiatives for a company are also really good business initiatives long term.

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