Keeping an Eye On (and In) Recycling Bins

It costs $42 for the city of Lake Worth, Florida, to dispose of a ton of garbage. But for every ton of recyclable material the city collects, it can earn about $10, which is why Lake Worth is launching a renewed effort to encourage and even reward recycling among its residents. And they’re using a new type of waste management technology to make sure it happens.

The city, located in southeast Florida, is launching a one-year pilot program that will bar-code and track the recycling bins at about 9,000 households, and even use video monitoring to make sure that what’s in those bins is actually recyclable. As The Miami Herald reports, the tracking system will be used to note which households are recycling – and recycling correctly – and potentially to offer a rebate or other incentive to encourage more recycling.