I want to commend the City of Athens for installing the 24 solar-powered compacter bins I am finding on uptown streets. This pilot effort not only introduces pedestrian recycling for the first time in Athens, but it creates the opportunity to educate city residents and visitors about regional sustainability.
As sunlight hits the panels and excites electrons, the electrical power created is used to compress the material into ready-to-move blocks that are then hauled to the Athens-Hocking Recycling Center (AHRC). This facility sorts, organizes, and sells leftover junk that would otherwise end up in a landfill to various centers that finally prepare the stuff to be used again - over and over. What a brilliant cycle.
If you take a moment to appreciate the social power of these bins, you’ll find they have more pros than cons. The city gains by establishing baseline data through the on-bin monitoring system about how much weight is sent to be recycled and how much is sent away as trash. Once a baseline is established, the figures can be tracked and improved upon to reach broad sustainability and carbon reduction benchmarks – which are currently being established by the city’s Sustainability Commission.
Additionally, the AHRC saves in its operations cost by learning what days are best to pick-up materials – and as it leans its soft costs of doing business, more jobs can be created in the local recycling economy. The solar technology itself helps sell the versatility of solar as a source of energy. In this light, the bins act as a tool to raise awareness to the rich pool of local installers, energy engineers, and social organizations working to scale-up the development of solar power, from rooftops to utility-scale farms.
The bins are signed for a one-year lease at $50,000, or $4,166.66 per month. To see if this will be worth a long-term investment, a broad analysis is needed to see if the initiative is both cost-effective and an overall benefit to city-goers. Measuring the carbon reduction benefits (using social cost of carbon), the cost in employee time to empty the bins, and calculating the economic multiplier effect of improved recycling rates would be a great start.
The Bigbelly brand bins truly are a “big move” for Athens, as stated by the mayor. I would encourage city officials and residents alike to see the power local governments have to enact positive change.
Mathew Roberts is a resident of Athens, Ohio and is part of UpGrade Ohio and the Athens City Environment and Sustainability Commission.
