San Luis Obispo installed 30 new recycling and trash bins in the downtown area to make recycling easier, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and streamline the waste disposal process, according to a city news release.
The implementation of these bins was funded by a $236,531 grant from CalRecycle.
These new bins are manufactured by Bigbelly and include smart technology that can communicate service and maintenance alerts. They can hold five times the capacity of traditional bins and are fully enclosed to prevent litter from tampering and wind.
According to Solid Waste & Recycling Coordinator Tina Clark, this means San Luis Obispo residents can enjoy a cleaner and quieter downtown and the city will make fewer waste collection trips, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
“The recycling bins make it easier than ever for users to separate their recyclables,” Solid Waste & Recycling Coordinator Tina Clark wrote in an email to Mustang News. “Increased recovery of recycling materials helps promote a circular economy.”
According to the California Air Resources Board, transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions in the state of California. Decreasing the frequency of collection trips is only one of many initiatives that the City is taking to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Others include investments in active transportation infrastructure, such as bike lanes and pedestrian crossings, improved SLO Transit bus service and new public-facing electric vehicle chargers, according to the San Luis Obispo Office of Sustainability.
“This investment in our downtown also helps us get one step closer to our climate action goals,” City Utilities Director Aaron Floyd said in the news release.
These bins were implemented by Sustainable SLO, a tourism program that helps the City reach its climate action goals – such as carbon neutrality by 2035 – according to their website.