New technologies can also be applied to the recycling sector. In the same way that there are smart bus shelters or smart refrigerators, which offer many services apart from the most obvious and main, there are now smart containers. The bad thing is that, sometimes, it is the human being who does not have enough intelligence to use them.
The objective is to improve recycling rates by facilitating this work for citizens and even motivating their use (or penalizing those who do not recycle). They are containers with the latest technologies that have systems that know the person who recycles and, of course, the type of waste that is thrown into the container, that give money when recycling, that notify when they are full and send a notice to the company in charge container management, containers that compact waste so that they take up less space, systems adapted for people with disabilities or, the most modern, with screens that offer information. In Green Ecologist we tell you more details about the smart recycling bins.
Money in exchange for recycling
The waste payment methods, such as the Deposit, Refund and Return System (SDDR), are promoted in several countries. Money or prizes may be offered. There are several such systems, such as RecycleBank, Bottle Bills, Envirobank, Gazelle, YouRenew or BuyMyTronics.
Specifically, the Deposit, Refund and Return System (SDDR) is implemented in Germany and other European countries, while, in Spain, many organizations and citizens ask that it begin to be used. The packages contain the necessary information so that people can return them to the containers. They validate the waste and then reimburse the consumer (for example, 25 cents, which is the value that they had paid as a deposit).
If citizens do not separate waste in a correct way, recovery and recycling systems they become inefficient. This is especially the case in the recycling of household oil. In this sense, the companies Biouniversal and Telefónica have created smart containers that have a technology called M2M (machine to machine). The container provides information to those responsible for management about the amount deposited and incidents. Operators come to collect the waste when necessary.
Other containers compact the garbage to allow more waste to be stored. There are several of these systems around the world. In Sant Cugat del Vallés, Barcelona, the American company BigBelly Solar installed containers that carry out this action with the help of solar energy. For its part, the Galician company Format Verde / TNL set up smart underground containers in Abu Dhabi that compact garbage, report their status through a Wi-Fi connection and identify their users.
There are containers (for example, in Barcelona) that are adapted for people with visual and motor disabilities. They have a lower height, greater ergonomics, ease of opening and closing more accessible, visible colors and information in pictograms and Braille language. Other cities, such as Santander or Móstoles (in Madrid), have also used this type of container.
In London you can use bomb-proof containers with LCD screens on which you can view the latest news or traffic information. New York, Tokyo or Singapore have containers of this type.
In Holland, a country famous for its respect for the environment and the massive use of bicycles, in a city called Groningen, they have located some very special containers: they are only opened if they identify the user. An RFID (radio frequency) reader makes this service possible. The objective is twofold: reduce theft and get to know the citizens who do not recycle.
It should be noted that the inhabitants of Groningen pay taxes according to the amount of garbage originated and recycled, so it is more an economic control than an ecological one. The smart containers they keep score and prevent fraud. In addition, they have a system for classifying garbage and calculating the amount that each neighbor must pay to the City Council.
In the municipality of Lazkao, in Guipúzcoa, Spain, a container was installed to compost the organic matter. Some neighbors were chosen to test the operation of the container, receiving a personalized card. As in Groningen, it was about rewarding responsible citizens who recycle and raising taxes on those who do not.
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