New bins hungry for litter

Litter collections in the city are going high-tech with the arrival of new smart Big Belly bins.

Briggate is now home to three new Big Belly bins, solar powered litter bins that can compact the rubbish they hold.

Having already tried the bins during a short trial at the end of 2014, the council has bought a total of 17 to test further in the city centre and to see what impact they have in other locations.

As well as the bins on Briggate, another nine are at key locations in the city centre including around the train station and near Leeds first direct arena.

The remaining bins are being placed in other locations across Leeds.

By compacting rubbish, the bins can hold eight times as much waste as normal litter bins. They can also let staff know how full they are, sending an alert when they need emptied.

Purchasing and using the bins will allow the council to see if it can offer an even more efficient street cleaning service in different parts of the city.

The council spends millions each year keeping Leeds’ streets, roads and parks clear. Residents and visitors can play their part by making best use of the litter facilities provided.

Councillor Mark Dobson, executive member for environmental protection and community safety, said:

“We need to be sure that we have the right kit that’s going to help us offer the most effective street cleaning service.

“Now that we own a number of Big Belly bins we can really get to grips with how these could fit into our operations in different circumstances.

“Our teams do a sterling job and we’ve got many active community groups, schools and organisations that are keen to make Leeds cleaner and greener. It would be interesting to see how much cleaner Leeds would be if everyone picked up and disposed of one piece of litter every day.”

The #1PieceofRubbish campaign encourages people to pick up and bin one piece of litter a day. Various teams and individuals across the council are joining in and encouraging residents to do the same. Follow @Clean_Leeds for updates.

There are 440 litter bins in the city centre alone that are emptied on average twice a day.

During a test in 2012, the city centre cleaning team kept all the waste they collected from bins and manual and mechanical picking in a 24 hour period. To show how much they collected they piled the waste – between five and six tonnes – on Briggate.