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Florence City Hall is installing solar-powered, self-compacting bins from Korean manufacturer Ecube Labs, which reduce emptying by 94%.
The Municipality of Florence, in central Italy, has in recent weeks deployed several solar-powered self-compacting rubbish bins in the city center.
The city government wants to replace almost all conventional garbage cans with the new devices in an effort to reduce garbage collection costs and carbon emissions. "This would mean a 94% reduction in emptying operations, compared to traditional containers, with a strong reduction in CO2 as a result of the reduction in traffic of collection vehicles in squares and streets of the historic center," he said in a statement. release.
The CleanCube canisters were supplied by the Korean manufacturer Ecube Labs. "The baskets installed in Florence are the first generation of the CleanCube," a spokesperson for Alia Servizi Ambientali SpA, the municipalitys environmental company , told pv magazine . "To date, there are 11 installed in the historic center of the city and another six will be installed shortly, in addition to the more than 850 standard litter bins present in the area."
Each solar-powered bucket has a capacity of 120 liters of compacted waste, which is equivalent to 600 liters of uncompacted waste. The cubes have a 35W polycrystalline solar panel connected to a deep cycle battery with a capacity of 38Ah and a voltage of 12V. The battery, in turn, powers a 120W gear motor that increases torque. The motor pushes a patented pantograph compactor with a force of 300 kg that compresses the garbage.
A laser sensor measures the fill level of the can and communicates it, along with other operating parameters, via a 4G connection to the Alia Servizi Ambientali SpA control software platform. “All the cans and sensors are connected to this platform providing, to those who manage the collection, a complete image of the level of filling of all the devices", explained the spokesman. "Finally, the software processes and provides statistics regarding the amount and frequency of waste collected and the efficiency of collection, as well as overfilling, for any set reference period."
According to the Ecube Labs website, CleanCube containers are available in different sizes and capacities. The smallest measures 500 x 550 x 1,200mm and has a capacity of 100 litres. The largest pot has dimensions of 670x770x1,600mm and a capacity of 240 litres. |
