A new talking bin has been unveiled alongside the A303 in a joint National Highways and East Devon District Council initiative aimed at tackling roadside litter. The compacting receptacle has been installed in a layby near Upottery, and will be monitored as a trial, with the aim of rolling out further bins in the future.

The new bin – the first installed by National Highways on a South West roadside – has a larger, 570-litre capacity than standard bins and operates by compacting the waste people drop into the machine.

Using sensors, the bin will indicate when it’s reaching capacity and message East Devon’s Streetscene teams when full, saving operatives time on their collection routes.

Litter collection along the A303 and other major A roads costs local councils millions of pounds each year and by compacting waste, the new bin will save costs by reducing the number of collection visits.

Andrew Gale, South West Service Manager for National Highways, said:

“We work closely with our local authority partners and we’re hoping that we’ll see a further roll-out of these bins across our laybys in the coming years, and a significant reduction in the amount of litter on our roadsides.

“Clearing litter from our roads costs the taxpayer millions of pounds a year, and the aim here is to reduce the number of collections and ultimately costs, which councils can ill afford.”

The compacting bin initiative has been funded through National Highways Designated Funding, which is set aside to deliver benefits beyond its core road investment programme,

Barry Mason, Streetscene Area Officer for East Devon District Council, said:

“We are delighted to be working together with National Highways. This new bin has the capability to text our operatives when full and this technology will allow us to optimise our collections and volumes collected while helping to keep our roads clean.”

(Picture: National Highways)