Big Belly Trash Cans Coming to Downtown West Chester

Spring 2014 will see trash cans blooming in the Borough of West Chester, but not just any trash cans. These are solar-powered, micro-chip transmitter equipped trash and recycling bins that also compact trash.

It's a development in trash handling four years in the making. It's being paid for by a $293,000 grant from Chester County.  West Chester Solid Waste & Recycling Coordinator Meghan Fogarty says up to 60 new $3,000 containers should dramatically reduce the problem of overstuffed trash cans with trash spilling over into the sidewalks and streets.

West Chester Business Improvement District Clean & Green Director Daniel Price says the cans will be kept clean by people working off community service sentences who regularly keep areas around the current traditional trash cans neat and tidy.

Fogarty says the cans are equipped with a solar panel on the top that powers the trash compactor as well as the signal that will send a signal to the Borough when a can needs to be emptied. She says that picking up trash on an 'on-demand' basis means trash trucks wouldn't have to make daily trips at times when the trash containers are not full.