One of Renew’s bombproof recycling bins in New York City. Credit: Renew.
A pilot program in lower Manhattan is testing purportedly bombproof recycling containers. One of the containers was placed near the Stock Exchange last spring, and its manufacturer, a London based company called Renew, hopes to install additional ones later this year.
Renew asserts that among the container’s security features is “the ability to inform the public and lock down on a moment’s notice.”
These containers were installed in London prior to the Olympic Games last year. One is located outside the Aldgate underground station in east London, where the July 7 suicide bomb attacks killed 52 in 2005.
Officials in London have generally been reluctant to place trash cans in high-traffic areas, largely due to bombs threats from the Irish Republican Army.
A garbage can was reportedly used as an accelerant for one of the bombs at the Boston Marathon on Monday. While Boston police officials said there was no evidence the devices were inside trash cans when they blew up, they may have been placed in a nylon bag on the ground next to a trash can, ABC News reported.
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