PHILADELPHIA, PA — The City of Philadelphia Streets Department and N. 5th Street Revitalization Project/Olney Community Collaborative, along with City Councilmember Anthony Phillips, recently commemorated the installation of 20 BigBelly™ solar-powered eco stations on the 5th Street Business Corridor in the Olney section of Philadelphia. This new deployment includes the installation of 65 units on North 5th Street, Old York Rd., Stenton Ave., Wadsworth Ave., Washington Lane, and Ogontz Ave to replace existing equipment and extend the BigBelly network.
“The BigBelly solar-powered litter baskets are a win economically and environmentally and we are excited to partner with the N. 5th Street Revitalization Project to provide the N. 5th Street business corridor with the BigBellies some of them have recycling attachments,” said Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams. “These eco stations save on fuel and labor costs and are designed to limit illegal dumping that leads to litter. And, with the additional recycling components, we’re putting less into landfills.”
The Streets Department manages over1,020 units, 450 have recyclers attached. The program started in 2009. Over 80% of the units have been funded using various grants funds and partnerships with commercial corridors, the Commerce Department, and City Council.
All the controller boards to 4G/5G citywide have been upgraded. The new BB5 units are much lighter in weight, many of the censors have been redesigned to improve functionality, and a longer lasting battery has been developed along with the upgraded software. The Big Belly program also includes an innovative ten-year concession advertising contract for up to 350 locations which has help to fund new replacement units.
Streets works with the Commerce Department and business organizations that manage business corridors when evaluating locations to assess foot traffic and the Sanitation Division’s capacity to service a location to strategically optimize these assets.
Big Belly Benefits:
- Solar-powered eco stations allow the Streets Department to decrease collection trips from 17 to five times per week.
- Reduced collection trips cuts related fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 80 percent.
- Number of employees required to service trash unit is decreased from 33 to nine.
- The installation of Big Bellies introduced pedestrian recycling in the city allowing for another opportunity to increase the habit of recycling, even when we’re not at home!
The Big Bellies are part of the Streets Department’s Keep It Clean Philly initiative. KEEP IT CLEAN PHILLY is the new initiative to expand programs and keep our city clean. We’re adding more citywide cleanings, enhancing current programs like Big Belly installation and mechanical sweeping, and launching new programs to better serve our community like our Block Captain Beautification Grant. Support has never been more needed, and the city has never been more committed.
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