Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 13th March 2025 Issue no. 1153
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New tool combats costly bin contamination – in seconds!
Bin contamination is the scourge of the waste and recycling industry. Putting the wrong things in the wrong bin not only reduces recycling, but could also could mean an entire load is rejected through contamination. This is not only costly for the facility or waste operator (residual waste disposal is almost twice the cost of dry mixed recycling), but it also results in far more waste being landfilled or incinerated.
To combat this, waste tech pioneer, Peasy, has come up with an innovative AI tool that can be used on any smartphone. ‘Instant Bin Audit’ provides an assessment of any bin's level of contamination, and can even identify the offending waste streams - within four seconds.
Options then include storing, emailing or recording the image and data, indicating the contamination level together with a list of items that should be removed.
The data can also be integrated with legacy systems which can provide undeniable evidence of repeat offenders. The operator may then choose a path of re-education or levy penalties. Facility operators can utilise the tool to pre-empt costly waste penalties, or simply use it for training purposes.
"Up until now, the only way to check bin contamination was to lift the lid and make a subjective view,” says David Landsberg, Peasy's founder. “Now, Instant Bin Audit provides indisputable evidence of procedural failures in waste segregation.
“Through either carrot or stick, organisations can now rely on accurate data to reduce contamination, thereby increasing recycling with fewer materials being to landfill or incineration."
Instant Bin Audit has so far been available on a trial basis and has already become a necessity for many companies and organisations who care about minimising bin contamination. This includes individual businesses, local authorities, waste operators, facilities management companies, corporate sustainability programs and even public events and festivals.
"Waste management companies are using the tool for on-site audits," adds David. “Previously, they were only measuring contamination on bulk loads at their facilities, and having to do this with rubber gloves. Now they can do an entire load or even a skip with this tool. For a deep-dive report, the tool can be used on the entire content by tipping out the bin, sack or skip.
"It's just the same with Municipalities. Currently, the operative lifts the lid and takes a guess of whether the bin's worthy of collection. Instant Bin Audit now makes the process more transparent and could even allow the local authority to issue penalties, together with photo evidence."
31st October 2024