Dive summary:

• The recent installation of 33 bins in 12 city parks has led to the park department crew having to empty city bins 312 fewer times, saving 276 gallons of gas.
• Twenty of the cans also have a wireless monitoring system informing the city when the cans are at capacity, removing the need to make unnecessary pick ups.
• The total cost of instillation for the bins in $137,00, most of which was fronted by recent stimulus funds.

From the article:

Emptying trash cans in Salem’s parks is toilsome, never-ending work. Especially in the summer, there always are cans needing to be emptied, many of them overflowing with garbage.

But the addition of 33 Big Belly solar compactor trash cans is reducing the workload so much that the city of Salem is saving money. ...