The Queenstown Lakes District Council has installed five of the ‘Big Belly’ bins at the lakefront park in order to measure their effectiveness for the next three months.
Council maintenance and operations manager Erin Moogan said the bins were connected to a cloud-based asset management system that sent out alerts when they needed to be collected.They had receptacles for recyclable and general waste, and their sun-powered compacters gave them a capacity at least five times that of standard bins.
That meant they had the potential to cut the council’s waste collection costs because they needed to be emptied less often, and only when full, Ms Moogan said.
They could also reduce the council’s carbon footprint, particularly in high-use locations and remote parks and reserves.
For example, Earnslaw Park’s standard bins had to be emptied four times a day, she said.
"We’ll look at how the dollars stack up."
At least four councils, all in the North Island, were already using the bins.
They cost $10,000 to buy, but the council was leasing them for $85 a day, which included the information management system.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult said the high-tech bins offered "a glimpse into how we can provide better services to our residents and visitors alike through the use of smart technology".
