500,000 rubbish bins fitted with Spy Chips
Pastor Dale Morgan
500,000 rubbish bins fitted with Spy Chips
*Sophie Goodchild, Chief Reporter
Published: 27 August 2006
UK - Hundreds of thousands of wheelie Rubbish bins are being fitted
with special micro spy chips to monitor the amount of waste discarded by
householders.
Councils say they are necessary to gather data about people's rubbish
disposal habits and are also a vital tool in settling disputes over bin
ownership. But experts are warning that these bugs, which transmit
information to a central database, could be used to fine those who
exceed limits on the amount of non-recyclable rubbish that they put out.
About 500,000 bins across England already carry the electronic devices
which are slightly bigger than a one-pence piece and are screwed into a
plastic recess in the lip of the wheelie bin. As the bin is lifted up
for emptying by council workers, a sensor on the refuse truck scans the
chip, which carries a serial number assigned to each property in the
street. This then enables the monitoring equipment to identify the bin's
address and record the weight of the rubbish that is in the bin.
According to The Mail on Sunday newspaper, a computer inside the truck
weighs the bin as it is raised up, then subtracts the weight of the bin
itself and records the weight of the contents on an electronic data card.
Once the truck returns to the depot, all information collected is
downloaded onto a central computer. Householders can then be billed for
the amount of waste that has been collected from them, even though they
have already paid for rubbish collection services through their council tax.
The chip itself costs around £2 to make but the cost of fitting the
equipment to a council dustcart is around £15,000.