To promote recycling, Cleveland is banking on the deterrent powers of Big Brother and Ben Franklin.
Thanks to a $2.5 million order of garbage cans and recycle carts embedded with radio frequency identification chips and bar codes, Clevelanders who don’t recycle could be fined $100.
"We're trying to automate our system to be a more efficient operation," Ronnie Owens, Waste Collection Commissioner, told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. "This chip will assist us in doing our job better."
The chip Owens is talking about will snitch on residents whose landfill garbage contains too high a proportion of recyclable materials.
The Plain-Dealer breaks down the process that turns a bad trash mixture into a hefty fine:
The chips will allow city workers to monitor how often residents roll carts to the curb for collection. If a chip shows a recyclable cart hasn't been brought to the curb in weeks, a trash supervisor will sort through the trash for recyclables. Trash carts containing more than 10 percent recyclable material could lead to a $100 fine. Recyclables include glass, metal cans, plastic bottles, paper and cardboard.
For a city that’s fallen face-first on hard economic times—Lorrain County, part of greater Cleveland, is ranked in the bottom 10 of U.S. cities for wage losses—the garbage cans are an expensive green bet.
Last week, Cleveland’s city council signed off on the $2.5 million purchase of enough cans for 25,000 households across the city, reports the Plain-Dealer. This expanded a 2007 pilot program that outfitted 15,000 households.
Eventually, say officials, every Cleveland household will be supplied with a high-tech can.
Officials justified the expenditure by saying that the program will eventually yield the city a profit; Cleveland pays $30 a ton to dump garbage in landfills, but earns $26 a ton for recyclables.
High-tech recycle carts aren't solely a Cleveland venture.
The Plain-Dealer reports that earlier this year Alexanderia, Virginia, announced it would issue high-tech carts to ascertain if people were recycling.
Last year, MSNBC reported on Philadelphia's experiment with Big Belly Solar—trash compactors that use solar energy to condense trash and cut down on collection trips by 75 percent.
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