Smart Trash - Reinvent Recycling with a Cash Incentive

Interesting idea, provided the investment of dollars and effort is outweighed by the gains...and privacy concerns can be addressed.

Excerpt from Warmer Bulletin e-news, 25 September 2009

'Envision a distasteful trip to the curb to take out the trash as a pleasant - and profitable - stroll. Some juiceless batteries - those are good for a few cents. An old keyboard might fetch a couple of bucks. Even that empty box of Pop-Tarts might be worth something.

Physorg reports that there is no need to sort these discards: the trashcan has already done it, inventorying all contents and calculating the worth of this waste. Next month's garbage bill could be accompanied by a check.

"Recycling and consumer waste are still managed with 1950s technology," said Valerie Thomas, Anderson Interface Associate Professor at Georgia Tech's School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

"...The flow of products out of the household needs to be managed with at least as much intelligence as the flow of products into the household..."

This is the concept behind "Smart Trash," an approach developed by Thomas that has caught the attention of major corporations and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Smart Trash systems not only provide sustainable and productive ways for discarding items, but also can redefine the relationship people have with their garbage...

Two essential elements are involved in making Smart Trash function.The first is a Universal Product Code (UPC) or radio frequency identification (RFID) tag that identifies specific merchandise. A scanner equipped within a trash receptacle would be able to immediately record what is being disposed, allowing consumers to track their trash and determine what pieces are potentially valuable.

The second component is a retrofitted recycling truck or recycling center that can sort trash that can sort recyclables. Valuable items could be sent to auction sites where the proceeds could be sent directly back to consumers. Items with hazardous components could be shunted aside for appropriate management.

A Wi-Fi connection provides the bridge between the trashcan and the recycling service, relaying information that can anticipate and properly organize the contents.

Recyclable items with significant value - such as consumer electronics - would be forwarded to online auction services where the maximum value could be actualized. Consumer recycling credits could also be issued for something as insignificant as a frozen pizza box or a shampoo bottle. Any money garnered from this waste could be applied to a consumer's monthly sanitation bill or sent as a check...

Depending on the nature of the product, there would be some reasonableness about how much information you would want to keep about something," Thomas said. "There's no reason for people to know how much cereal you eat."...