Waste Management Awards Solar Trash Compactor to Solon, Ohio

Houston-based Waste Management has awarded a one-year demonstration model of its new solar-powered trash compactor to Solon, Ohio.

Waste Management’s solar-powered compactors are about the same size as the trash receptacles that cities typically place in public places, but compaction allows the devices to provide roughly five times the capacity of a standard 35-gallon receptacle.

“We know busy intersections, public parks, city streets, sporting events and other public spaces can be magnets for trash,” said Dave Aardsma, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Waste Management, in a press release. “Ordinary trash barrels can easily overflow and become eyesores. The Waste Management solar powered trash compactor can provide a number of solutions in those uses, by reducing waste collection frequency, lowering costs for our customers and ensuring a greener, cleaner environment.”

Waste Management has installed 15 of the units at Patriot Place, a 1.3-million-square-foot retail and dining center next to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.