Massachusetts Patent of the Month – September 2021
Every community has a form of waste collection – it’s a very important feature, maintaining sanitation of the municipality and – hopefully – ensuring waste is taken care of as sustainably as possible. The cost of maintaining waste collection, however, is a burden on many communities. The more a garbage dumpster fills up, the more it needs to be emptied – and the more it costs the city. But if you don’t empty it, then trash piles up around it and contributes to litter and pollution. Big Belly Solar, Inc has taken it upon themselves to develop a solution to this problem, and create efficient methods to detect if the bin is full to help direct when bins need to be emptied rather than wasting trips or letting trash pile up.
They have designed a set of electrically powered waste enclosures. They use a sensor within the bin to track the fullness of the bin. The bin can be fitted with a bag which is held securely in place – taking care of another issue people often have with garbage bins. The bin is powered using solar panels and a connected battery, meaning the addition of the bins has very minimal overhead, and furthers the sustainability of waste collection. Cities or businesses can implement this technology to direct when a bin needs to be emptied, reducing the number of unnecessary trips to bins and preventing the chance of a bin overflowing. Developments like this are amazing progress when it comes to efficiency of the necessary daily routines of a city or company.
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