Smart Waste Disposal Units Unveiled by Supervisor Jane Kim and the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District

YBCBD Funds Colorful Solar-Powered Wi-Fi Connected Bigbelly Waste Receptacles to Help Improve Street Cleanliness in the Yerba Buena Cultural District

San Francisco, Calif., December 19, 2017 — San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim and the nonprofit Yerba Buena Community Benefit District (YBCBD) today unveiled Bigbelly “smart” waste collection receptacles for use in the Yerba Buena cultural district, adding another tech-savvy strategy used by the YBCBD to help keep district streets and sidewalks clean. 

 

YBCBD.png  

“Clean streets and sidewalks are critical to sustain our neighborhoods as vibrant and enjoyable places for residents, workers and visitors,” said San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim at a ceremony at Market Street and Yerba Buena Lane. “The Bigbelly smart trash receptacles are another avenue towards a cleaner and more livable city. I applaud the YBCBD for its investment in the units and for its ongoing efforts to improve the cleanliness, safety and vitality of Yerba Buena.”

25488051_1578558188857118_8924049907110953068_o

In 2017, YBCBD teams removed more than 300,000 pounds of trash equivalent to 10,000 trash bags from district streets, cleaned up more than 1,100 overflowing public garbage cans, and addressed more than 5,500 sidewalk sweep requests by merchants and residents. The YBCBD was the first community benefit district in the city to offer a mobile app and web-based program called YBCBD Assist to report and track district service cleaning and safety requests, along with texting, phone or email options to request services to remove refuse, graffiti, stickers and more.

“People don’t always think about using technology as a path to cleaner streets and sidewalks. The Bigbelly units provide an opportunity for the YBCBD to achieve our goal of keeping the neighborhood clean by using smart technology that’s simple and effective,” said YBCBD Board Chair Candace Sue.

The YBCBD is funding installation and maintenance of nine Bigbelly units. To prevent overflow and liquid spills common to traditional trash cans, Bigbelly units are tamper resistant and sealed. To reduce the need for pick-ups, each unit has an internal compactor that allows it to digest five times more trash than current bins and has Wifi connected to a solar power transmitter that signals collectors to empty the bins. The new units are placed at busy pedestrian areas along parts of Market, Mission, Fourth and Fifth streets to capture as much refuse as possible.

The Bigbellys are adorned with brightly colored YBCBD branding to draw attention to information on how to contact YBCBD to request cleaning services. “Anyone in our neighborhood can pitch in to keep our neighborhood cleaner by disposing of trash properly or contacting us to clean the street,” Sue added.

The YBCBD has been coordinating installation of the new units with the San Francisco Department of Public Works. Recology will empty the bins.

 

About the YBCBD

The Yerba Buena Community Benefit District is a community-based nonprofit organization working to improve the quality of life in the Yerba Buena neighborhood, encompassing Second to Fifth and Market to Harrison streets. Yerba Buena is a dynamic district that features world-class museums, convention space, hotels, educational institutions, and more than 400 shopping, dining and entertainment venues. The YBCBD began implementing programs in 2009, such as a Community Guides program, SFPD bike patrol officer program, graffiti removal, street and sidewalk cleaning, neighborhood marketing, public art projects and other improvement efforts. Learn more at www.YBCBD.org and on Facebook.

About Bigbelly Inc.

Bigbelly, Inc. is the world-leading provider of smart waste & recycling management solutions with more than 1,500 customers in 47 countries. Solar powered, the Bigbelly Smart Waste & Recycling System combines cloud computing with smart compacting waste and recycling stations. The system helps customer beautify their public space and reduce operational costs by 70-80 percent. Visit http://bigbelly.com. Follow on Twitter (@BigBellySolar), Facebook and LinkedIn.

Source: Yerna Buena CBD Press Room

Media Contact: Peter Bartelme, YBCBD, 415-664-1503, pb@prstrategies.com

 

 

Download Brochure

Want to learn more about Bigbelly’s altogether better waste solution? Download our brochure.

Download Brochure