Mayor Thomas M. Menino tosses some refuse into Boston's newly unveiled "Big Belly" barrel. The City of Boston has purchased 50 units to be placed in locations in its' neighborhoods. This solar powered trash compactor crushes trash and creates more room for more debris. By eliminating the number of pick ups, the City plans on saving time, money and having the ability to redeploy the personnel used to empty these bins. The PWD plans on determining how effective these barrels are by keeping a strict log for the next 6 months. If the program is as successful as we anticipate, we hope to purchase more in the future.






The city of Boston purchased 50 BigBelly® Cordless Compaction units as the first phase of an extensive deployment plan under consideration by city officials. The units have been placed throughout the city in selected high-trash, pedestrian-heavy locations to prove the solar-powered compactor's ability to increase collection capacity, prevent trash can overflows, and ultimately save the city money by reducing the frequency of collection trips required by city personnel. DPW officials describe the system's benefits of the rollout: The enclosed bins prevent trash from blowing away or being rifled through, discourage the dumping of household trash, and save money by saving time required to empty the bins and the fuel costs to haul it away.