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Gainesville, FL - A solar compactor, strategically placed in this high-traffic area, should save the City of Gainesville enough money to bring the compactors on campus.

“It was a project we’ve been working on for a while,” said Stanley Estes, the solid waste field operations supervisor for the City of Gainesville.

The compactors have the capacity of five traditional trash cans … and the waste is compacted using 100 percent solar energy.

The solar compactor was purchased by the city from BigBelly Solar, a company that started the release of the container in 2005.

Robert Dalton, the director of business development for BigBelly Solar, said the company has more than 125 college and university customers.

The payback period, according to BigBelly Solar, is about three years, but Estes said the City of Gainesville is on a much shorter schedule.

“We’re looking at one year for a payoff,” Estes said.

Four other containers have been placed around Gainesville, including one on Main Street, one on 13th Street, one behind Oaks Mall and one behind Butler Plaza.

“Institutions want to be able to take that reduction in waste collection and move those newly formed hours to more tasks, especially to tasks on campus,” he said.

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