Council to trial solar-powered street litter bin

A solar-powered litter bin trial is among a raft of new initiatives included in Noosa Council’s amended draft budget, due to be adopted on 29 June.

Cr Joe Jurisevic said the new technology would initially be trialled in a busy public area.

The street bins are fitted with a solar-powered compaction system to maximise bin space, and extend the time between rubbish collections.

Cr Jurisevic said the bins also used wireless technology to notify Council staff when the unit requires emptying, which had the potential to extend the time between collections, reducing rubbish trucks on local roads.

“The compaction technology has the potential to reduce the likelihood of bins overflowing and litter spilling out on to the footpath as well as reduce the collection frequency, which should mean fewer litter complaints,” he said.

“The trial will investigate the unit’s effectiveness and things like build quality and general suitability, running and maintenance costs.”

Waste Management staff will report back to Council on completion of the trial.

“There is $5000 included in the draft budget to trial the technology, and from that trial we will be able to assess whether there is value in rolling out the technology more widely,” Cr Jurisevic said.

24 June 2015