High-tech garbage can comes to Elgin

Visitors of the Centre of Elgin might notice something new and green greeting them at the door.

Officials from the city and Waste Management on Wednesday unveiled a smart garbage can that uses solar power to automatically compact trash and sends a signal to garbage crews when it is full.

The $4,000 receptacle can hold five times the amount of trash as a similar sized trash bin, so disposal crews only have to drive out once a week instead of daily to empty it, said Waste Management Marketing Manager Matt Hernandez.

"It saves gas. It saves on emissions," he said, adding that Elgin is the first city in Illinois to get this compactor. "When it's full, it calls us and says, 'Come pick me up.'"

Mike Schuiteman, Waste Management's residential round manager, said the compactor each day uses the amount of energy it would take to make a piece of toast. In a week, it uses the energy it would take to brew a pot of coffee.

Mayor Ed Schock said it is fitting that the new compactor was donated to Elgin because the city is committed to becoming greener.

"This is a wonderful innovation," he said. "There really is no end to that effort. It's a journey."

The city has a $3.3 million budget deficit that it must pare down by the end of the year, but future solar powered compactor purchases could be considered because of their possible uses at larger venues like Festival Park.

"It's certainly something within our sustainability initiative that we can at least look at," Elgin spokeswoman Sue Olafson said.