Fifty solar powered compactor bins have been installed in Galway city by the council after a successful trial last year.
The SolarStreetBin litter bins from Mayo company PEL Waste Reduction Equipment were commissioned by the city council to combat mounting volumes of litter that are straining collection services.
The solar powered units can hold up to ten times more rubbish that normal bins due to the built in compactor that compresses the waste into a wheelie bin inside the bin itself.
The smart unit also features built in sensors to monitor how full it is and reports that data to a cloud based dashboard viewable by the council.
A spokesperson for the city council said that they now have “complete visibility on litter-levels within all the bins installed in this programme.”
“The technology alerts us when the bins need to be emptied so this will put an end to any overflowing bins and the associated expensive clean-ups”
However there has been criticism that the overall number of bins available around the city has decreased as a result of this changeover.
Concerns have been expressed that without a bin in close proximity people are more likely to litter.
The full rollout of the new SolarStreetBin units was commissioned after an extensive trial period in 2018.
Tommy Griffith of PEL Waste Reduction Equipment said that they are pleased to be working with the city council on this project.
He added that the company homes to deliver “significant value to the litter collection service” in the comes years through their technological solutions.
photo credit: PEL Waste Reduction Equipment
