Could these high-tech bins spell the end of 6am wake-up calls from noisy garbage trucks?
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A number of councils across Sydney are trialling solar-powered bins that compress rubbish to hold more waste and provide real-time information on when they're full for better collection planning.
Canterbury-Bankstown Council is the latest to trial Bigbelly bins, which contain SIM cards that provide real-time data on how full the bin is, how recently it has been collected and any problems it is having.
"We send alerts that'll tell [clients] exactly when to go and collect the bin, when it's full, when the door's open, or when the bin's on fire," said Leon Hayes, managing director of Solar Bins Australia, which delivers Bigbelly bins in Australia.
"The data's there for the contractor to make smart decisions on reducing collections at five in the morning when people are sleeping and reducing frequencies of collection," Mr Hayes said.
Canada Bay Council, which has been trialling the bins since January, has seen collection trips in its busiest locations fall from seven days a week to "two to three days", mayor Angelo Tsirekas said.
"We will consider a further roll out of the solar bins once the current 12-month trial period finishes."
Parramatta Council is expected to have two trial bins in place by June this year, and three other Sydney councils and a university are also looking to test the technology.
However, Mosman Council, which tested an earlier model of the Bigbelly compactor bins in 2010 that lacked the real-time reporting function, found that the cost of the bins was prohibitive and the technology was unreliable.
"We weren't satisfied with the trial, we didn't see it produce the efficiencies that would justify the initial high cost," said John Saul, team leader of service contracts at Mosman council.
"They were $3000 to $4000 each. A regular bin is $50 to $100," Mr Saul said.
"With an ordinary plastic bin nothing can go wrong. With the technology, it didn't work."
Although the "technology that they've got now might be improved", Mosman Council would not be trialling the bins again in the near future, Mr Saul said.
Smart bins are also gaining traction overseas, and have been installed in a number of countries including the US, Denmark and Britain.
