A garbage-gobbling trash can that compacts street litter using solar energy has become a hit in cities across the nation, but the Big Apple's honchos just aren't interested.
The administration that aspires to create a "greener" city via PlaNYC, and seeks an all-hybrid taxi fleet by 2012, has spurned these eco-friendly devices. Nevertheless, BigBelly compactors have big fans in the boroughs.
"Overflowing trash cans had been a problem," said Mabel Law, executive director of the Flushing Business Improvement District. (Photo to left)
Queens BIDs received 50 BigBelly cans through a 2005 pilot program, while 10 went to Flushing. A cleaning crew empties the BID's 60 normal trash cans two or three times a day.
A BigBelly can compress up to 150 gallons of trash - five times the amount a garbage can holds without compression. The busiest BigBelly is emptied once every two to three days. Others get attention once a week.
"People really like it. It's innovative, they think it's a great idea, it's nice-looking and it encourages them to pitch in," Law said.
In Brooklyn, the Navy Yard Development Corp. said a purchase of 10 units fits a larger mission.
"We're trying to be a leading-edge sustainable industrial park. There are several things we're doing and the BigBelly is just one of those," said Elliot Matz, the corporation's chief operating officer.
Nationally, 59 municipalities have bought high-tech BigBelly units, including Boston, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Chicago. In addition to fewer pickups, another benefit is reduced truck emissions.
The Chicago Sanitation Department collects from 30 units citywide. But the cost of a unit - $3,500 to $7,000 each - has limited its appeal.
"We think it's a great idea, but a lot of big cities are strapped for cash," said spokesman Matt Smith, noting that the Windy City may continue a slow phase-in of BigBellys.
"This is one case in which having a BigBelly is an asset," he joked.
Albany rolled out the devices in city office buildings and plazas last month. But the Sanitation Department, after a two-unit trial, found them impractical, a department spokesman said.
He cited four sticking points: the cost, the complexity of emptying them, the confusion people had telling it apart from a mailbox, and the small trash opening.
"We have no plans to implement BigBelly in the city," said Sanitation Department spokesman Matt LiPani. "It may be good for the BIDs, but it's not good for the city."
But Franklin Cruz, the president of Big-Belly's Bronx-based distributor, Direct Environmental Corp., disagreed. He noted that he sold two to the city's Department of Citywide Administrative Services in June.
"I don't understand their rationale. BigBelly has a tremendous track record," Cruz said. "I think the city will come around."
