KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knoxville is moving forward with a plan to replace trash carts with compactors downtown, thanks to a $75,000 donation from the Downtown Knoxville Alliance.

According to city officials, crews currently collect garbage eight or nine times a week from over 700 carts in 85 different locations. They say there's limited capacity to add more pickups to accommodate future growth.

Knoxville's Deputy Communications Director Eric Vreeland said compactors will create room for downtown growth, allow the city to use its resources more effectively and open sidewalks by eliminating hundreds of trash carts and corrals.

The conversion to trash and recycling compactors will happen slowly over the next several years, according to Vreeland.

Mars Fletcher thinks the compactors will be the

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