SLIPPERY ROCK — The borough has a couple of new, solar-powered trash containers.

Two BigBelly Solar containers, one for trash and the other for recycling, were installed Friday in Roxy Park near South Main Street.

Regina Greenwald, a borough councilman and a member of the Slippery Rock In Bloom committee, said Slippery Rock University students conducted a study and determined the park would be one of the best spots in the borough for the units.

The two containers cost about $4,000 to $4,500. Slippery Rock In Bloom paid for the containers, but they are property of the borough, which will maintain them with help from the committee.

Each container is 150 gallons and has solar power. Both have software that enables them to communicate, letting waste haulers, as well other interested parties, know whether or not they are full.

“That saves diesel, so that the haulers don’t necessarily have to send a truck if it’s not (full),” said Judy Hughes, a Slippery Rock In Bloom committee member.

Additionally, the trash container has a built-in compactor.

Hughes first saw these kinds of containers about three years ago in Los Angeles. She was told the containers greatly reduced the number of trips a waste hauler had to make.

Hughes said the units are made in the United States, and most parts are constructed from recycled materials.

Greenwald said the containers will help Slippery Rock In Bloom, which is part of America In Bloom, a community improvement initiative. She said the committee is trying to emphasize recycling this year.

She said she would like to see more containers in the borough eventually.

“We wanted to see how these ones work first,” Greenwald said.