Fife Council: New smart bin trial in St Andrews

The state-of-the-art compactor bins, which compress or compact litter as it is deposited in the bin, hold up to six times the volume of a standard litter bin, meaning fewer collections will be required resulting in an overall reduction in bin servicing costs.

Sensors within each bin constantly report on the quantity of waste inside them, informing the council’s environmental services team remotely and instantly how often they are being used, and when the best time is to empty them.

The new bins will be deployed initially in key areas in St Andrews for a six-month trial period, with 70 of the town’s 420 bins to be removed and replaced with 30 smart bins during the pilot project.

However, the bins will – where possible – be placed where there are currently groups of bins, thus reducing the number of bins on streets while still increasing capacity.

That, in turn, will cut the time spent emptying bins, and allow council staff to concentrate on other duties such as tidying and cleaning streets to improve the look and feel of the town.

Sandy Anderson, Fife Council waste operations service manager, explained: “St Andrews is a very busy tourist area, so our service was looking for a solution that could accommodate the volume of litter generated while also maximising the time that street sweepers were carrying out their other duties – not just constantly emptying bins. We think that using this technology will make a real difference to St Andrews and will be great for the environment and for local people.

“The smart bins don’t need to be emptied as often, which is not only great for the area’s carbon footprint but also represents considerable fuel savings too with the added benefit that the time saved helps to enable staff to focus on other duties and enhancement work. We also think the new bins will encourage more people to recycle, as eight of the new units will be double units, containing a litter bin on one side and a recycling bin on the other side.”

The bins will feature foot pedals, making them better for hand hygiene, and will be enclosed, so waste is contained and can’t escape when full, keeping wind-blown litter off the streets and creating cleaner, safer public spaces.

Fife Council is also trialling a bin that is pizza box shaped at the opening for empty boxes in the hope of replicating successful trials of these elsewhere in the UK.

Councillor Jan Wincott, spokesperson for environment and climate change, added: “Many pilot projects are helping us to make better, data-informed and more sustainable decisions, and this smart bin trial in St Andrews is set to be one of those. Of course we will be monitoring its progress closely, but the real-time monitoring of bin-fill levels should see many benefits realised – not least saving on time, cutting costs and reducing emissions. It’s one way we’re developing smarter ways of working locally and will enable the council to deliver a continuously improving offer to residents, businesses and visitors alike.”

The trial aims to complement Fife Council’s wider Don’t Rubbish Fife campaign, and highlight the many cost effective and safe ways Fifers can dispose of waste responsibly.