UK – worries over the spy in the bin

In Britain the novelty of microchips in rubbish bins seems to be a cause for concern, according to this piece from the Guardian.



Though he foresaw many ways in which Big Brother might watch us, even George Orwell never imagined that the authorities would keep a keen eye on your bin. Residents of Croydon, south London, have been told that the microchips being inserted into their new wheely bins may well be adapted so that the council can judge whether they are producing too much rubbish.



If the technology suggests that they are, errant residents may be visited by officials bearing advice on how they might “manage their rubbish more effectively”. In the shorter term the microchips will be used to tell council officers how many of the borough‘‘s 100,000 bins the refuse collectors have emptied and how many have been missed. While the move will be welcomed by environmentalists, it has sparked a row between the Labour-led council and Andrew Pelling, the Conservative who represents the area on the London assembly. He has tagged the microchips the “spy in your bin”. Mr Pelling said: “The Stasi or the KGB could never have dreamed of getting a spying device in every household.” He said the technology might yield information which could be misused. “If, for example, computer hackers broke in to the system, they could see sudden reductions in waste in specific households, suggesting the owners were on holiday and the house vacant.”



But a spokesman for Croydon council said the fears were unjustified. “What we don‘‘t want is people putting into their wheely bins tins and glass and paper and textiles, all of which could go into recycling bins. It is the way forward for waste management. We are not the only council thinking about it.” He said the microchips would help the council fend off unwarranted criticism. “We will have a confident response to customers who claim their bin may not have been emptied,” he added.



This interesting note comes from Irish waste consultant PJ Rudden, reacting to the piece in the UK Guardian (spy in the bin) above



Nobody in Ireland complains of the new micro-chips in all our bins to assist the new ‘‘pay by weight‘‘ system of waste charges (other than the scale of the charges are questioned in some political quarters). The biggest problem is putting your waste in your neighbour‘‘s bin; which is now solved by ‘‘locking‘‘ your bin with a purpose made key.



Dublin City Council have noted a 52% reduction in the weekly lifting of bins since the ‘‘pay by weight‘‘ regime kicked in in January. Everybody is using the recycling facilities more and (hopefully) producing less waste.