Originally published on August 9, 2013<br /><br />A council in London is trying out a novel way to reduce the expense of emptying streetside litter bins.<br /><br />Merton in south west London is trialling the Big Belly bin, which works using solar power generated by solar panels fitted to the top.<br /><br />The panels generate enough energy to run a trash compactor that crush the refuse when the bin becomes full.<br /><br />The big belly needs just eight hours of sunlight per month and can collect the same amount of trash as up to eight conventional bins.<br /><br />The manufacturer of the bins says they can reduce the number of waste collections needed by up to 86 percent. <br /><br />The bins can also reduce the number of vehicle trips required and fuel used by trash collectors.<br /><br />Each compactor comes equipped with an electronic monitoring system.<br /><br />When it is almost full the bin sends a message to a smartphone indicating that it is ready to be emptied.<br /><br />--------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />TomoNews is your daily source for top animated news. We've combined animation and video footage with a snarky personality to bring you the biggest and best stories from around the world.<br /><br />For news that's fun and never boring, visit our channel:<br />https://www.youtube.com/user/TomoNewsUS<br /><br />Subscribe to stay updated on all the top stories:<br />http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=TomoNewsUS<br /><br />Stay connected with us here:<br />Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS<br />Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS<br />Google+ http://gplus.to/TomoNewsUS
