New green trash compactors clean up Pitt

Pittsburghers don’t like to admit it when Philadelphians beat them at anything. But when it… Pittsburghers don’t like to admit it when Philadelphians beat them at anything. But when it comes to garbage collection, Philadelphia crushes the competition.

Philadelphia bought 500 solar-powered trash compactors for its public sidewalks in April 2009. The upgrade from 700 standard, wire trash cans to 500 trash compactors translated into fewer garbage pick-ups, which save on fuel and labor costs and will save the city an estimated $13 million over 10 years.

News of the trash compactors’ financial and environmental benefits promptly traveled across the state, and Pitt picked up one of these BigBelly solar-powered compactors as a demo this summer. Pitt spokesman John Fedele said the University will consider buying trash compactors in the fall.

“The University always looks for ways to maximize its labor workforce. Additionally we are looking to expand our ‘green story’ and to be more sustainable by reducing the consumption of natural resources,” Fedele said in an e-mail.

Pittsburgh’s first solar-powered compactor basks in the sun in front of Hillman Library, but the Consol Energy Center will install the first three permanent units outside the facility in August, said Mark Roessler, area sales director for Waste Management.

The BigBelly machines, which are distributed by Waste Management, can hold as much as 200 gallons of uncompacted trash.

The 250 non-solar receptacles that Pittsburgh bought last year have a 36-gallon capacity.

Standing at just more than 4 feet tall, the trash compactors have a 1,250-pound maximum compaction force, according to a report from the City of Philadelphia that had many of the compactor’s specifications.

There’s a hopper, like those on U.S. Postal Service mail boxes, for safety and cleanliness. The design also keeps out pests, keeps in odors and makes dumping residential waste difficult.

For safety reasons, the motor will only run when the door is closed, but the machine compacts trash only when its sensors detect the trash has reached a certain level.

Though the trash is usually collected on a predetermined schedule, the compactors come with Collection Logistics Efficiency and Notification, or “CLEAN,” wireless technology that notifies a central system when the receptacle is almost full.

BigBelly solar trash compactors are also equipped with a 12-volt battery, so they don’t need direct sunlight to work. They’ve also been tested in extreme weather locations ranging from 130 degrees Fahrenheit in Dubai to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit in Western Canada, a Waste Management news release said.

Since Philadelphia installed the trash compactors, the city has saved 70 percent on its previous trash collection costs. It reduced collection frequency from 17 times per week to five, and its garbage collecting staff from 33 to nine.

Philadelphia street commissioner Clarena Tolson said those workers who previously collected trash are now working on recycling collection.

“At  the same time that we brought in the BigBellys, we were expanding, working on our weekly single-stream recycling collection. So instead of having recycling collections every other week, we now have recycling collection every week,” she said.

Philadelphia bought 210 recycling units for paper, glass, plastic and aluminum recycling.

Rebecca Schroeder, co-president of Free the Planet, a Pitt student environmental group, said it’s difficult to find recycling in Oakland and in many University buildings.

“There’s pretty much a trash can wherever I need it, but there isn’t recycling in key places. There’s recycling on every floor of the Union, except where food is,” she said.

Fedele said the University would consider buying these non-compaction recycling units if it purchases the trash compactors. The final decision about whether to purchase the units would fall on the University’s different administrative sectors, including Housing, Food Services and Facilities Management.

The staffers in charge of these sectors might be inclined to buy the units if they “save the University money and make us more productive,” Fedele said. He said the grounds division empties between 80 to 100 trash cans daily.

“We are hoping that if this container is tested successfully that it could reduce that to possibly twice weekly, therefore allowing additional time to be dedicated to the beautification of the campus,” he said.

Tolson said that Philadelphia received $2 million in state grants and a three-year lease-to-own program to buy the BigBelly compactors. She said the compactors will pay themselves off in three years and plans are in the works to buy 465 more units with the city’s Recovery Act funding.

Philadelphia purchased the compactors for a record-low price because of the quantity it ordered. Tolson said the compactors cost the city $3,025 each, and the recycling units cost $776 each.

The compactors can also be found on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus, Philadelphia University’s campus, Arizona State University’s Campus and the cities of Boston, New York and Cincinnati.

Though Schroeder is pleased to hear that these universities and cities have reduced their carbon footprint and saved money, she would prefer to stop the problem at its source.

“I think it’s a great thing, but obviously we want to be focusing on minimizing trash production,” she said. “I think it’s good if they do make students think about trash.”