DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Trash collection is getting its place in the sun in Downtown Brooklyn.
Starting this weekend, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership will begin installing 140 solar-powered trash and recycling compactors throughout the neighborhood.
The self-powered Bigbelly, Inc. bins can collect up to five times the amount of standard bins by harvesting energy from the sun through solar panels to compact trash and recycling.
This will add up to a 290 percent increase in waste collection capacity — from 8,910 gallons a week to 25,860 gallons — in addition to 5,400 gallons of new recycling capacity, according to the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.
“Solar-powered compactors will transform the streetscape of Downtown Brooklyn for the better,” Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President Tucker Reed said in a statement. “This installation will help us achieve one of our chief goals: ensuring that the area is clean for workers, residents and visitors.”
The new system will also make trash pickups greener. The solar-powered bins are connected to Bigbelly’s cloud system, which allows them to signal when the station is full, reducing the amount of truck traffic needed to empty the containers.
The bins, which have completely enclosed and secured linings, are designed to keep away rodents.
The first set of solar-powered bins will be installed by Sunday and the remainder will be installed once the MetroTech BID expansion is completed in the next few months.
The new bins are similar to other solar-powered waste systems that have been installed in Williamsburg, Times Square, Lower Manhattan and the Upper West Side.
