High-tech trash cans

(Kathy Plonka)

Let’s talk trash. McEuen Park contains no ordinary trash and recycling bins. Many are solar-operated and contain compactors. When full, they send a signal to the park’s nerve center, and maintenance crews can monitor how full they are getting from their smartphones. Other trash cans extend more than 6 feet into the ground, providing anaerobic breakdown of garbage. Crews may not need to empty those for weeks. When they do, they pull up in a utility vehicle equipped with a crane and lift a heavy-duty synthetic bag up out of the deep container. All of these high-tech trash bins save the city labor costs.

Directions to the next stop: Hidden parking