Gear

Don't Recycle? Your Trash Can Will Tell On You

The long-promised “internet of things” is here — and already, it’s in the trash. Cleveland is equipping new trash and recycling cans and carts with radio frequency identification (or RFID) chips and bar codes. If you don’t bring your recycling bin to the curb for a few weeks, city workers go through your trash. If […]
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Image of RFID-enabled recycling bins via RecycleBank

The long-promised "internet of things" is here -- and already, it's in the trash.

Cleveland is equipping new trash and recycling cans and carts with radio frequency identification (or RFID) chips and bar codes. If you don't bring your recycling bin to the curb for a few weeks, city workers go through your trash. If they find more than 10% recyclable material, you'll get fined $100.

It's not for love of the environment. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the city "pays $30 a ton to dump garbage in landfills, but earns $26 a ton for recyclables."

Cleveland has had a smart-cart pilot program in place since 2007, and just expanded it to include 25,000 households. They plan to cover the entire city within 5 years.

However, Cleveland and other cities should be wary of any environmental or cost-savings claims coming from the makers of smart-trash-tech themselves. In Philadelphia, the City Controller just released a due diligence report claiming that the city's much-heralded solar-powered trash compactors haven't produced their promised savings.

Story via @iftf and Techdirt.

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