Private Sector Operatives to Also Fine Litter Bugs : Bigbelly Smart Bins Helping Darlington Improve On-The-Go Recycling

Darlington Borough Council has achieved a 98% efficiency rating for the emptying of units only when at least 80% full as opposed to emptying bins irrespective of fill level since introducing 10 Bigbelly units.

According to Egbert H. Taylor, the UK distributer for Big Belly, the new smart bins also made sure that members of the Darlington community have every opportunity to avoid fines associated with littering.

From September private sector enforcement, as managed by Kingdom, will be introduced to the area so members of the Darlington community will face a £75 fixed penalty if caught dropping litter on the street or not picking up after their dogs.

Prior to Bigbelly’s introduction, each litterbin in and around Darlington’s town centre needed to be emptied between two and three times a day, which was resource intensive and saw collection teams continually manoeuvring around the busy town centre throughout the day.

If the bins weren’t collected on time and remained overfull for prolonged periods, there was no space for the public to deposit their waste. This was leading to increased levels of littering, which would have also exposed those littering to fines.

Now, via Bigbelly, which automatically compacts waste down when full using a solar powered compactor, the capacity of each unit can be increased by up to eight times in a matter of seconds.

This process prolongs time in-between empties, generating savings by reducing the amount of cost attributable to collections, and ensures that bins are never overfull, which means that the public can always place their rubbish in a bin.

Brian Graham, Head of Environmental Services at Darlington Borough Council, said: “Our main aim is for members of the Darlington community to be proud of where they live, and a big part of achieving this is having clean streets. We heavily rely on the public taking pride in their town centre and borough by using the bins available and alerting the council if there are issues.

"Since the introduction of Bigbelly to High Row and Northgate, we have seen a tidier town centre in cleanliness and a reduction in bin clutter. Bigbelly’s part in keeping Darlington’s streets clean is to create increased capacity which removes the need for people to litter and allows operatives to carry out other detail duties with the town centre.”

Each Bigbelly unit communicates directly with Darlington Borough Council’s collection team to alert them as to when they require emptying. If they do not need emptying, the collection team is able to miss them out on the collection round, saving time that can be reinvested in other street cleansing services.

Mark Jenkins, Sales Director at Egbert Taylor concluded: “With the rise in private sector enforcement initiatives that are being implemented to address littering, access to a bin is going to become even more important if people are to avoid being fined. We’re delighted that Bigbelly is helping to keep Darlington’s streets clean and that its inclusion has increased the overall efficiency of the council’s team.”

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