The Office of Facility Services partnered with BigBelly last January to install 40 solar-powered trash compactors around campus to save money and promote the recycling program. In the year since, the program has provided many benefits, said Tammy Millican, the Office of Facility Service’s assistant director of communications.
One of the reasons Facility Services decided to make the switch to these trash compactors was to save the University money. Millican said the department is reaching its goals in several ways, including saving on maintenance costs and saving resources such as labor and fuel.
“It is absolutely saving us money,” Millican said. “What we hope to do is replace all trash receptacles with the BigBelly compactors.”
The new receptacles have also been making campus sustainability more visible. On top of winning the National Championship in the GameDay Recycling Challenge , Sustainability Manager Sarah Temple said the University’s efficiency is through the roof.
“LSU is performing the best of all the universities with the compactors,” Temple said.
According to the recycling report provided by BigBelly, the compactors have handled 100,580 gallons of waste in 2016. Of that, 34,310 gallons of that was recycled. In total, 34 percent of collected waste was diverted from landfills.
The compactors have been met with positive response from not only students and faculty, but the staff as well, Millican said. Student workers empty the recycling, while the maintenance staff is responsible for the trash compactor side of the units. The collection process is streamlined through an app downloaded to the workers’ phones that allows them to determine which units are in need of service.
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Workers then go directly to the units in need, instead of making rounds of the campus, which saves resources and time. The grounds crew responsible for the trash side of the units also report positive experiences with BigBelly receptacles, noting the vandal proofing makes them easy to deal with.
“The students I directly manage love the BigBellys,” Temple said.
Facility Services has plans to expand the program, when the funding becomes available. A meeting is planned for February to discuss expansion plans, Temple said. The trash compactor units are also capable of running Wi-Fi hotspots, but there are no plans to introduce this feature to campus.
“That was one of the features we were most excited about because there is the ability to use this for other things in the future,” Temple said.