Two years after installation of Greenville City’s BigBelly solar compactors in Cleveland Park, City crews have installed additional compactors at two downtown locations.
The compactors are located at ONE City Plaza and the courtyard area beside Bellacino’s.
Like the ones in Cleveland Park, the new compactors will use 100% solar power to automatically compact garbage and recycling items, and were purchased through a Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling Grant from the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control.
According to Allison Brockman, the City’s recycling coordinator, the BigBelly units in Cleveland Park have collected .69 tons of garbage and recycling, and have yielded significant cost savings in both manpower and the use of materials such as plastic bags and fuel. Each BigBelly unit holds more than five times the amount of waste as the receptacles in the Central Business District, and includes wireless data and collection reporting software, which alert City workers when the bins need to be emptied. Because the units utilize the power of the sun to compact waste, in addition to the cost savings, they also help reduce the City‘s CO2 emissions.
As before, City staff considered a number of potential locations for the units, and ultimately chose ONE City Plaza and the Bellacino’s location because they are high-traffic areas with trash containers that previously had to be serviced multiple times throughout the day. Ample sun exposure and convenient access for City trucks also factored into the decision.