Green IT Toolkit

Chip-and-bin plan launched

Kablenet.com

Published: 19 Sep 2005 09:35 BST

The five month trial involves inserting electronic microchips into 4,000 wheelie bins set aside for household recycling, while high-tech readers are fitted to the council's fleet of bin lorries to instantly record the amount of recyclable rubbish in bins.

The council will then use the data gathered from the trucks to map recycling hotspots and unmask areas where residents fail to separate their recyclables from disposables, instead bagging up everything together for the local landfill site.

Although the chips and readers will measure the amount of rubbish recycled by individual households taking part in the trial, the council says it is not in the business of punishing people for not recycling enough. Instead has pledged to help those it feels could do better.

Head of environmental services Richard Thompson said the overall aim of the chip-and-bin pilot is to build up a picture of recycling rates at ward level.

"Although we will be measuring the amount of recyclable material coming from each household in the trial, the real point is to find out what is sent for recycling at the community and parish level," he said. "The technology will allow us to determine recycling rates in any given size of area throughout the district, which in turn will help us plan future recycling policies."

In common with the rest of the north-east of England, recycling rates for household waste in Alnwick fall below the national average. Council chiefs are keen to improve the performance.

While their chip-and-bin scheme may well have wound up in the waste paper basket at other authorities, the government certainly didn't rubbish the idea: the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has agreed to part-fund the scheme.