BigBelly Compactors at MSU

E. Lansing, MI – Oscar the Grouch may soon be homeless.

Replacing conventional trash cans and bins, Landscape Services has experimented with a trash compactor outside of Michigan State University’s Dairy Store for the past year. Landscape Services Coordinator Steve Frank originally discovered the device, called the Big Belly Solar Compactor, and soon advocated for its incorporation at MSU.

“I was just looking into solutions to the litter problem,” said Frank, explaining that the heavy traffic at the Dairy Store made keeping up with trash build-up difficult.

According to Frank, the compactor includes a 32-gallon container which can hold up to 200 gallons of compacted material. This promotes efficiency by reducing the amount of trips to empty the trash (and thus gasoline used) as well as the time spent by employees because it is easier to dispose of compacted trash. As if this was not enough, the unit also runs entirely on solar energy.

According to Landscape Services Manager Gerry Dobbs, the compactor has yielded tangible results. “It cut the number of visits to that site by 60 percent and the amount of time spent at the site by 50 percent. Also, the cost per year of labor involvement at the Dairy Store is now 10 percent of what it used to be.”

Thanks to the solar compactor’s success, it is now a part of the exterior recycling container policy and standards for MSU, and other units are being suggested for other high-traffic areas of campus. Gardener Diane Kennedy, who currently maintains the compactor, enthusiastically supports this idea. “I think it would be incredible and well worth the investment,” she said.

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