Dive Summary:
- Onondaga County in New York bought two solar-powered trash receptacles costing a total of $8,000 and is looking to add more throughout Syracuse.
- The "Big Belly" trash cans were purchased with federal stimulus money from the U.S. Department of Energy, costing 21 times more than a typical can, but are intended to save money in the long-term by using a wireless alert system that alerts workers when cans need to be emptied—reducing pick-up costs.
- The county and city are each submitting grant applications to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to buy around 300 additional receptacles at an expected cost of $1 million.
From the article:
... In 2009, the Philadelphia streets department used some stimulus funding to replace traditional litter baskets with almost 900 solar-powered Big Bellies and more than 400 recycling containers, called Smart Bellies. That city says it saves $1 million a year because the trash cans reduce the collection rate per trash can from an average 17 times per week to 2.5 times per week. ...
