City buys more solar-powered trash compactors
Santa Fe soon will be the home of a dozen new solar-powered public trash compactors, which city officials plan to place around the downtown area, the Railyard District and Santa Fe River Park.
With little discussion, the City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a $93,243 contract with Massachusettsbased Big Belly Solar Inc. for a dozen of the high-tech receptacles, similar to one that for years has stood on a corner of the Plaza next to the Palace of the Governors.
The money comes from a state grant for park improvements issued in 2016. According to a memo from Caryn Grosse, the facilities project administrator for the city’s Public Works Department, the deadline to use the funds is June 30. The contract says Big Belly is obligated to deliver the 294-pound trash bins by that date.
The city-owned trash-compacting device that has been operating on the Plaza was manufactured by the same company. While it resembles a regular trash bin for use by downtown pedestrians, the device also crushes trash for deposit in the landfill.
According to material supplied to the city by Big Belly, the high-tech compacting device is “equipped with sensors that monitor and report fullness levels and collection activity. It harvests solar power to compact waste and communicate its real-time status. The [compactor’s] enclosed hopper [opening] design ensures total waste containment.”
Each bin holds about 150 gallons of trash, which can be turned into about 33 gallons of compacted refuse.
Each bin holds about 150 gallons of trash, which can be compacted.