Dive summary:

• New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced the city's largest recycling initiative to date, the installation of 30 solar-powered waste and recycling stations in Times Square.
• The bins will replace 53 trash bins in an area that generates approximately 15,300 pounds of trash every day.
• By the end of the year the city plans to have 1,000 new recycling containers in all five boroughs.

From the article:

The Big Belly units have three sections for cans & bottles, garbage and paper. The high-tech stations hold five times the capacity of traditional sidewalk trash receptacles, use solar energy to compact trash, require fewer pickups and are expected to cut greenhouse emissions by 80 percent

“Recycling is practical and it is adaptable,” said Department of Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty. “The goal of this program is to prove that on-the-street recycling works and can be transferred to other communities around the world.” ...