New talking bins will 'say thank you' on A303, as part of anti-littering initiative
28 tonnes of litter was collected in the South West by National Highways from last April to the end of March this year
A new 'talking bin' has been unveiled alongside the A303 in East Devon
It 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.
Working on 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 – and it will even offer up a courtesy ‘thank you’ message to any responsible drivers using the bin during their travel breaks!
It is a joint National Highways and East Devon District Council initiative aimed at tackling roadside litter. Elsewhere, two compacting bins are also being installed along the A2 in Kent, in partnership with Dover District Council.
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 – and if the bins are treated correctly they’ll even speak nicely to you!”
"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."
As part of the Great British Spring Clean effort earlier in the spring, National Highways’ teams have just collected close to three tonnes of litter from roads in the South West.
During the spring clean effort in the region, National Highways’ contractors collected 428 bags of litter from its motorways, the A417/A419 routes in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire and the A35 in Dorset – at 7kg a bag, equivalent to 2,814kg or 2.8 tonnes.
Since last April to the end of March this year, in the South West alone, National Highways has seen 3,952 bags collected, equating to a staggering 27,664 kilos – or 28 tonnes of litter.