ENCINITAS -- A solar-powered trash compactor is busy collecting, and squishing, refuse at Swami's Beach Park, a city official said Friday.

The city has bought three Big Belly Solar Trash Compactors -- at $4,000 a pop -- and workers have installed the first of them at the park on South Coast Highway 101 south of K Street earlier this week, said John Frenken, park and beach superintendent.

The high-tech trash cans also will be installed soon at Leo Mullen Sports Park and Paul Ecke Sports Park. Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association is paying for a fourth compactor to install at The Lumberyard shopping center.

The devices are fitted with sensors that trigger a compacting mechanism, he said, and all of it is powered by the sun.

Councilwoman Teresa Barth said she learned about the Big Bellies at a conference in Seattle and brought information about them to Encinitas City Hall.