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HomeNewsCity equipping garbage bins with radio frequency tags

City equipping garbage bins with radio frequency tags

The City of Prince George is using modern technology to improve the way it collects garbage from each of the more than 23,000 residential garbage carts throughout the city.

This week, crews have begun installing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags on all household garbage carts. The operation is said to be completed by the middle of July.

The tags will help the City to improve customer service by tracking broken, overflowing, or missing carts.

The Radio Frequency Identification tags are only about 10 centimetres long. (Supplied by City of Prince George)

RFID tags use radio frequency technology to keep track of objects. The same tags are often used on airline luggage, tickets, or retail store items.

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Strategic Parks Planner for the City of Prince George, Laurie-Ann Kosec told MyPGNow that once installed, these tags will not change the way residents use their cart or alter the way carts are put out on collection days.

“All the carts are being tagged. It’s simply that on collection day, once your cart is out we add a tag onto it and include it in our system. There will be no difference in how your cart performs.”

The addition of the tags will allow the City to monitor its solid waste more efficiently.

“We’ll be able to take photos of carts to be able to see if they have contaminants or other things that can be diverted such as recyclables,” said Kosec. We’ll also be able to ensure that carts aren’t missed on collection day. We’ll also be able to tell if a cart is being left out or being put out too early.”

Information collected through RFID tags will be stored on a secure server by the City of Prince George. Any garbage cart photos that include captured personal information like people or vehicles will also be blurred to protect privacy.

Implementing the RFID system costs about $10 per cart, while the replacement value of each city-owned cart is approximately $65 for a mid-sized cart. Project funding comes from the City’s Capital Expenditure Plan.

 

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