'Smart' bins that tell council when they need emptying are installed in Milton Keynes

MK Council has paid for 20 of the state-of-the-art bins in a bid to keep the city centre clean, green and free of litter.

Between them, the bins are able to take five times more rubbish than the standard bins across CMK.

Their contents will be crushed and compacted several times a day using the solar energy they collect.

They also contain smart monitors to communicate with the council, so workers can understand when the bins are nearly full and can send someone to empty them when needed, rather than sending operators unnecessarily to a bin that doesn’t need emptying.

The bins open when you press a handle or a foot pedal. As they’re sealed, they can stop vermin and birds, and will stop rubbish overflow onto the street.

Current litter bins in the busiest areas of CMK have to be emptied up several times a day. The new bins will have more space for more rubbish for longer, so crews can make fewer journeys while keeping the bins from filling.

Council leader, Pete Marland said: “You’d expect a place like Milton Keynes to have smart bins using renewable energy. The monitoring system will let our teams know exactly when the bins need emptying so they can spend more time on other tasks to keep our streets cleaner and greener. This is yet another step for the council to crack down on litter.”