Researchers track trash
2009-09-13 22:21
Seattle - Where does that coffee cup, disposable razor or unwanted television end up once it’s tossed out?
Using an electronic tracking device about the size of a matchbook, MIT researchers are tagging about 3 000 pieces of Seattle trash to get people thinking about what they throw away and where it ends up.
The associate director of MIT's SENSEable City lab and aproject leader, Assaf Biderman, said: "Seeing where your trash goes allows you to change your behaviour.
"Will you refill a cup instead of throwing away a disposable one?"
Researchers are visiting the homes of hundreds of Seattle volunteers to fix electronic tags to between 10 and 15 pieces of their household trash, such as pizza boxes, Styrofoam cups, slippers and scrap metal. The volunteers will dispose of the item as they normally would.
The battery-operated smart tags rely on cellphone technology to send information back to MIT computers, allowing researchers - and the public - to monitor the trash in real-time as it moves through the waste stream to its final destination.
The public will be able to follow the trash migration at an exhibit that opens at Seattle's Central Library on September 18.
Waste
Biderman said the project would allow researchers to study in detail how efficiently, or inefficiently, the waste removal system works.
Does recycling end up being recycled rather than in the landfill? Does it take weeks rather than hours or days for trash picked up from one Seattle neighbourhood to get to the transfer station?
About 789 608 tons of waste is discarded in Seattle each year. About half of that ends up in the landfill, while the rest is recycled, reused or composted.
But about two-thirds of the city's garbage that ends up in the landfill, including food and garden waste, can be recycled, according to the latest figures from 2006.
Trash is taken to two city transfer stations before being loaded onto a train to a landfill in Oregon. The city may find out that some routes take longer than others.
Biderman said Seattle was chosen because of its reputation for recycling and its advanced waste disposal system.
Seattle now recycles about 50% of its overall waste, compared to 38% five years ago. The city hopes to recycle 60% of its waste by 2012. The national recycling rate is about 32%. .
- SAPA