In the can: Waste companies to film proof of our sloppy recycling

In-lorry surveillance cameras may be about to take us all to task if we fail to use our bins properly, writes Kya deLongchamps

The best way to avoid a gentle reprimand is to learn all you can about recycling your waste. File picture

There's something potentially new coming to every gate splay and doorstep, as nationwide, in-lorry cameras are set to record the results of our sloppy habits around responsible disposing and recycling. 

Contamination detection makes perfect sense. After all, unless an eagle-eyed bin technician spots something nefarious waving from the top of the wheelie bin, they have, up until now, relied on our honesty and diligence in separating our waste into the correct, clearly designated bin.

With this new technology, as the wheelie bin is tipped, low-resolution cameras (no double-finned by the almighty powers of AI-aided software) can identify the type of garbage rolling through the shot. This will show up where we’re letting ourselves and the rest of the parish down as we struggle to get Ireland’s recycling rate above a laughable 40%. 

The bin lorries chew and compress the load. If you’re contaminating your recycling bin with dirty containers or half-full milk cartons, that could spoil the whole lot, sending it back to landfills or the incinerator.

If you’re outraged at this Eye of Sauron judging your fortnightly failures, well, brace yourself. Two firms, Greyhound and Panda, have already started this necessary detective work. Panda took up the first initiative way back in 2017 and is now striving for accuracy and integrity with a nationwide roll-out of its in-vehicle cameras planned.

A survey of 80,000 Panda customers in Dublin over 18 months finished this spring. It found that up to 55% of recycling loads were contaminated. This is in line with a study released by the EPA in 2022 that found that almost two-thirds of waste placed in household general waste bins should have been put in household recycling, organic waste bins, or brought to bring centres.

Panda is taking a softly-softly approach as they now put its “cleaner bin imaging system” in place over all of Dublin. The company says in its FAQs section: “If we see something out of place, you’ll get a handy email from the 'Your Bin' team. 

"It’ll include the image, a quick explanation, and a few tips to help you sort it properly next time. The images are low-quality and only used to give you a nudge in the right direction.” Panda says the “phased approach allows us to focus where the impact is the greatest, while ensuring the service is accurate, effective, and respectful of our customers.”

Reaction to customer online discussion groups has been mixed. Some posters were openly furious that they could not opt out of the surveillance. 

Your local bin run could be about to become very judgy with in-lorry cameras and AI identifying our recycling sins in real time.

The data following Panda’s pilot program is telling. A statement from the firm revealed that contamination of recycling bins following photographs being forwarded to erring customers fell to just 5%.

So, going forward, it’s more than likely we will all be open to shaming photographs and an “educational follow-up email” revealing us as sustainability slackers on the bin supplier’s in-house imaging system. 

Could this result in additional fees? For repeat offenders, surely it should, although Panda and Greyhound recycling have not chosen to punish customers as yet. It’s touted as identifying problems and offering customers guidance.

With this progressive technology in mind, there’s no better time, facing into Christmas, where the binloads are heaving with jolly-holly entertaining, to get our home waste management system in order. There are several weak points to think about.

Home waste system

Fines, rows, recriminations — we struggle getting it right. First of all. If you don’t have a logical mechanism in place to take your waste from the kitchen to three containers (this could be the final wheelies or smaller back-door bins to go to the wheelies), the situation is hopeless. 

The easier it is to do the right thing, the more likely even the most disinterested teenager will do it. There must be a black waste container (sizable), a recycling container (sizable) and a food waste bin if you’re not composting absolutely everything. Every waste company must provide this food bin on request.

Some households like to caddy their waste from three individual separators, others like to use back-door step bins. I don’t keep any rubbish in my house. Huffing smells out into the kitchen to the open-plan rooms, I just hate that sweet garbage smell. It’s pervasive and horrible. 

Middling size bins, caddies and containers to whisk via a bag to the wheelies will vary around 40l to 60l with splits to suit your situation, some only suited to indoor use.

Education

Next up is educating everyone in the household, from small kids to grandparents. There’s an honest confusion around what is recyclable and what is not. 

Foodstuffs for the brown bin should not harbour rubber bands or plastic film (naked foodstuffs only).

Moving to the recycling bin — wax-coated papers, containers with two materials (say a foil lid), and multi-material waste can lead to misdirected dumps of items. 

Soiled paper napkins and kitchen roll, and a small amount of newspaper can actually go into the food bin. Cat litter and soil cannot. Coated cardboard with a waxy or plastic surface should not be recycled — it’s a contaminant. 

Together with a good separating bin for organic, recyclable, and black bin waste indoors, caddy-liners for food waste bins (biodegradable and certified IS EN13432) can take some of the stress out of handling decomposing rubbish. There are dozens of hacks to help get this job done every week with increasing precision.

What information you cannot find on the packaging itself can be turned up online. I favour Mywaste.ie for its general tips and hacks. Recycling pieces should all be clean and dry. This is not just an extra favour. Liquids and goop smeared onto or tipping onto clean paper and card can spoil a load.

Rinsing cans and digging out flecks of dog food is not fun — but it has to be done. Try gathering a tied bag of pieces and doing them all at once — even outside, and let them air and dry in an old laundry basket — cans pointed down to drain. A dedicated kitchen scrubber in a signature colour is useful too.

Now, we’ve had repeat recycling offenders here at Castle deLongchamps, prompting my patented Wizard-of-Waste programme. This prickly little device has smartened us all up, as there are grotesque, glove-wearing consequences. 

One person (the Wizard) is responsible for ensuring every bit of rubbish goes the right way (kitchen to wheelie) for one week of every month. The failures of anyone who can be accurately named and shamed by the Wizard result in the role of Wizard of Waste being passed on to that person for two weeks a month. 

What's your view on this issue?

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It’s amazing how easily you can spot the culprit by their favourite goodies going astray in the SimpleHuman, and we’ve learned to enjoy this as a teasing game between us all. I’m in charge of weekly spot-checks, which, after fines from the waste company for a heavy black bin floating in foodie rubbish, I’m happy to do. 

It’s a matter of a quick stir with a bit of pole and rubber glove dips to ensure nothing goes astray until everyone is up to speed with separation. The era of “no one will know” is over.