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US researchers tag rubbish

by on28 July 2009

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Where did that coke can go


US boffins are electronically tagging rubbish with radio controlled chips to find out where it goes when it is discarded.

The so-called "smart tags" tested this month at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be coming to a rubbish can next month in Seattle. Thousands of volunteers will attach the tags to trash and then discard the rubbish as they usually would. Similar projects are planned for New York City and London, with the voyage of items to be recorded and available for viewing on a blog.

Assaf Biderman, associate director of MIT's SENSEable City Laboratory said that most people think that when they throw something in the trash, most people think it's gone. But three days later it could be under a ton of earth a few miles away, or being dumped somewhere where the use of toxic chemicals and child labour is still legal.

Biderman's lab chose Seattle for the program's prime time debut because of that city's reputation for recycling. Seattle recycled half of its residential and commercial waste last year.
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