The Taipei City Government yesterday presented the city’s first iTrash station, which has a “smart” trash can with 24-hour self-service that allows residents to dispose of trash around-the-clock while earning reward points on EasyCards for recycling aluminum cans or PET bottles.
The Taipei Department of Information Technology said it collaborated with the Department of Environmental Protection, Haoyang Environment Technology Ltd (晧揚環境科技) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) to set up the first iTrash station in August in a parking lot on Linyi Street.
The station is equipped with Internet of Things and cloud technology, providing trash disposal and recycling while collecting data on trash disposal and automatically notifying agencies to collect trash or fix malfunctions.
Photo: CNA
City residents currently take their trash bags out to the street when they hear city garbage trucks signal their arrival by playing Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fur Elise or Tekla Badarzewska-Baranowska’s A Maiden’s Prayer.
The iTrash station is more convenient for people whose schedules do not coincide with trash collection times.
Using the station, residents can earn reward points on their EasyCards. By inserting the EasyCard into a slot, users can earn NT$1 for disposing of up to 0.2kg of trash, NT$4 for up to 0.5kg and NT$8 for up to 1kg.
Users can also earn NT$1 for every 10 PET bottles or eight aluminum cans.
During the three-month trial, the Linyi Street iTrash station was used more than 800 times, collecting more than 2 tonnes of trash, 20,000 PET bottles and 8,000 aluminum cans.
The statistics highlight the good results, but so does the approval of nearby residents, borough wardens and city councilors, Taipei Department of Information Technology Commissioner Lee Wei-bin (李維斌) said.
Haoyang is working on iTrash stations that can also collect kitchen waste and other materials, chief executive officer Yang Chen (楊琛) said, adding that data from the station would help city officials improve the program.
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