Boston, Massachusetts
The City of Boston, known for its rich history and narrow streets, has a population of 550,000 people. The city collects municipal trash using its own fleet of trucks, and has an annual trash collection budget of several million dollars. In early 2006, Mayor Thomas Menino decided to do a pilot program geared toward streamlining the collection process. He bought 50 BigBelly solar powered trash compactors.
During the next year, the city monitored the machines. It found that much fewer trash collections were needed where BigBelly was deployed. It also found a reduction in litter which made constituents very happy. Tim McCarthy, of Boston Public Works, said about the pilot: "The results have been excellent. The public response has been nothing but positive, and we have realized the desired benefits for the city. We intend to move forward through the budget process toward a city-wide deployment starting this spring." (Jan. 5, 2007)
The City received both a groundswell of support in locations where the BigBelly units were installed, and requests from other neighborhoods concerned with their litter problems. In Spring of 2007, the City installed more machines in the densely populated, historic, North End. The City has made additional purchases, and is moving aggressively toward a city wide installation.
"It has a ton of benefits—it will save the city time and money, keep litter from overflowing, and discourage illegal dumping of trash." "This will save us a lot of time when guys are filling potholes, fixing sidewalks and doing other things." (July 2006 Boston DPW)
Impressed with the results, Mayor Thomas Menino stated in December 2006 that "The solar trash receptacles have to go citywide. It will give us a more productive work force because you don't have to pick them up every day." Interview, Mass High Tech, 12/22/06