They are Spying in Your Bins
Refuse company installs chip linked to customers to check their rubbish
“Because we get continuous feedback on individuals, you can see the individuals who are making a good effort and the ones who are making no effort,” Conor Walsh, Secretary of the Irish Waste Management Association.
Good morning readers…
Here’s something that will either make you laugh or make you sick, depending on your mood. Forewarned is forearmed however. Keep smiling.
Yesterday on RTE Radio we heard that refuse company Panda has been spying on its customers, since 2017. The company has been trialing a system whereby cameras in the bin trucks monitor individual bins, which are chipped to identify customers.
This interview is illuminating on multiple levels. Italics are mine, for the clues I can identify. I am interested to see if you see what I see?
Secretary of the Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA) Conor Walsh begins by telling RTE listeners about the spying trial.
(Regular readers may recall this is the same Conor Walsh who entered the comments section with much enthusiastic defence of the recycling system after a curious individual placed a tracking device in his recycling bin that tracked the recycling all the way to the incinerator. Story below.)
Recycling Ruse Rumbled by Tracking Device
If recycling isn’t real, what else might not be as it seems?
The following is a transcript of yesterday’s show on RTE featuring a conversation between Clare Byrne (CB) and Conor Walsh (CW).
CW: “They trialled it over a three year period from 2017 and they know it works, heh, so the idea is, look the vast majority of people in Ireland make a really good effort at recycling and this is all about providing feedback and guidance because not everybody gets everything right, as we know.
“So we in the IWMA have a taskforce that have been working on recycling rates and we are at 41% on the 2022 data, we need to get to 55% under EU law. If we don’t get to 55% the country will be fined maybe tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions - we don’t really know.
“This next bit of work is needed because recycling is not just about the waste companies. It’s about every person in the country and anyone who puts something into a bin has a role to play.
“So this is about providing guidance and feedback using cameras in the trucks.”
CB: “So when the recycling bin is tipped into the truck it’ll be filmed and there’s a code so you know, that’s my bin and if you see something that shouldn’t be in there that’ll be noted on the system. Is that how it works?”
CW “That’s exactly right. We are the only country in the world that can do this. It’s good because we are really really advanced in having the chips in everybody’s bin, in knowing and having the weighing system on the back of the truck. So when we lift the bin we know whose bin it is.
“It’s not just feedback to say you’ve done something wrong, your bin is contaminated. There’s advice there so any issues will be highlighted with a red box and a little note then to say, textiles should be in a textile bank, food waste should be in the brown bin. So direct advice to the customer on directly what they have done.”
CW “It’s not only the recycling bin though Clare, it’s the general waste bin as well.”
CB: “Oh!”
CW “That’s new, it’s been trialled, it wasn’t as extensively trialled. With a general waste bin you may not see an awful not but we see enough to give advice.”
Walsh references an EPA report in 2022 states that some 74% of what’s in the general waste bin is recyclable.
CB “But Conor if it’s in black bags, can you see it?”
CW “Not through black bags no, but you might see the shape of a cardboard box but look, in the trials they found that an awful lot of waste is not in black bags actually. Things go in loose or in clear bags or white bags, so you can actually see what’s going on and look, this is not enforcement for people because at the end of the day you are charged for the general waste bin, that doesn’t change.”
CB “But if you have repeat offenders there will be a cost implication at some point down the line, is that right?”
CW “That’s quite likely but look, the Irish Times article was wrong on one thing. It said the bin wouldn’t be lifted but that’s not the case. That happens in other countries actually where they name and shame people, which is not what we are doing. In other countries you might get a bright yellow sticker on your bin saying Bin is Contaminated We Couldn’t Lift It Sort It Out.
CB “I thought you said other countries couldn’t do this?”
CW “No that’s how they do it, they can’t do it the way we’re doing it, which is with a camera system directly sending an email to the customer showing them the issue and advising them directly.”
“Other countries can’t do that so they put a big yellow sticker on the bin and they shame the people. We don’t want to do that, we have never done that in this country.”
CB “Okay so you can’t fine customers for not segregating their waste, you are not allowed to do that. Is that right?”
CW “We are not an enforcement authority. We can’t issue fines. So what happens though is, look if a customer gets advice - and this is down to individual companies as to how far they will go with this - but if a customer gets advice three or four times and they are clearly not interested in the advice, they clearly want to contaminate their bin, well they are not giving us recyclables….”
The next line Mr Walsh states is not quite clear but it appears he is saying that if recyclables are ‘contaminated’ then they will be charged as general waste.
It’s not clear what happens if a person’s general waste bin is contaminated. Perhaps a yellow sticker will be introduced for that heinous crime?
CB “You’re going to charge more for repeat offenders, that’s really what you are aiming for?”
CW “Well, Panda said to me that they have never refused a bin on that basis so I can’t speak for anyone else.”
Clare Byrne then clarifies that refuse company Panda did the bin spying camera trial from 2017 and now that system is going to be rolled out to other companies, nationwide.
CW “This has been a Panda initiative from the start, but now Repak have stepped in and they really like it and they are providing some funding for it to be rolled out to other companies around the country.
Mr Walsh clarifies the following:
There will be cameras on two trucks, the recycling and general waste trucks and if this proves worthwhile the cameras will be rolled out across the entire fleet of bin trucks at a cost of E15m to E20m.
CW “That cost will be borne by the waste companies (!) but the view is that when you get segregated waste it brings down the cost for everybody, both the public and the company.
CW “The waste companies are doing everything they can but if the waste comes mixed there is only so much can be done about it and we are pulling recyclables out of mixed waste and the quality is not up to the standard that’s needed.”
CB “Talk me about what happens to the recycling bin, is it sorted through by the waste companies?”
CW “It goes to what we call a materials recovery facility eh and there’s a lot of machinery there, hi-tech and they use optical separators, robots, there’s all sorts of high tech equipment there.”
CB “Picking the stuff out that shouldn’t be in there?”
CW “Well, picking the stuff out that shouldn’t be in there but also separating the mixed dry recyclables. So they will separate out the cans and the bottles and you know, the plastic trays, the paper, all of that. Then we bulk all that stuff up and sell it, basically. And there’s a residue there, about 30% is contaminated.”
“The feedback is not aimed at forcing anybody it is aimed at helping everybody. So if you put really good recyclables into your bin and it goes in the truck but your neighbour hasn’t really thought about it and they are doing it wrong or whatever and that goes in on top of your waste, well all your good work is gone to naught there…”
CB “It’s contaminated!”
Does this remind you of anything?
Remember a chief manipulation tool of the great vaccine ruse was to make scapegoats of those not taking part in the trial.
The conversation then veers towards placing locks on bins to prevent random people contaminating one’s bins.
A listener wants to know will her elderly aunt be punished for making a mistake?
Mr Walsh laughs it off.
“Punishment is a very harsh word. No, I think that family will get feedback and will get advice and will get pictures and help and you know look, the extra charge that could be put on is really for people who make no effort. People who make no effort should pay more because Ireland is going to be hit with fines and that’s going to hit all of us and take money that could be used elsewhere.
“Because we get continuous feedback on individuals, you can see the individuals who are making a good effort and the ones who are making no effort.”
To conclude, it seems the reasonable action here is to double bag all of your general waste to make sure companies can’t spy on the used intricacies of your private life, thus creating more waste, not less.
The other option is to simply ditch the waste companies altogether and bring your rubbish to the local dump.
Readers can listen back to the segment here (it is quite entertaining.)
PS. Has anybody actually used the bottle recycling machine?
This is not a 'sexy' or 'fashionable' topic, even for those people with their heads screwed on like Louise. But everyone, and I mean everyone, uses an official waste management company or system, whether its household waste such as potato peels or wrapping paper, or personal waste that goes into the toilet bowl.
But what happens to said waste? Where does it go? In partcular what happens to the 'contamination' that is inevitably in there too? Because 'contamination' is not just caused by a few anti-social people who must be indentified. Just think about what goes into your loo.
I didn't hear that broadcast but the idea of chips on bins has been around for a long time. It's purpose is not so much to identify 'contamination' as to punish non-paying 'customers'. And it's not just Panda.
Finally, spare a thought for the binmen and the 'pickers'. I feel there is a real scandal there waiting to be exposed.
Great article!
Conor is the perfect Irish Apparatchik. He'll do well.