The City of New Orleans is going green with a new program to pick up trash in the French Quarter and the Downtown Development District using solar-powered trash compactors to help keep the streets cleaner.

City officials hope to have approximately 250 of the trash cans in place by the end of April.

“We are constantly exploring new, more efficient ways to improve City services and keep our streets and neighborhoods clean,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “These solar-powered compactors will ensure cleaner streets in high-traffic areas throughout the city, particularly in the French Quarter and Downtown Development District. It’s just the latest example of how we’re looking at new, innovative ways to improve services for our residents.”

Waste Management of Louisiana, LLC, was contracted by the city to install the trash compactors.

City officials chose to implement the plan after a successful pilot program of two BigBelly solar trash compactor units in the French Quarter in 2011 and the deployment of 110 BigBelly units in 2013 by RTA.

Among the findings, the benefits of the solar-powered BigBelly trash compactors, according to city officials, are, reduction of litter, fewer pick up needed by garbage trucks and minimizing odor. “We found collections went from a minimum of 14 times per week to 2.5 times per week. This a great advantage for a number of reasons…[I]t reduces the number of trucks on the street,” said Cynthia Lear, director of the Sanitation Department. “