'Bin brother' keeps watchful eye on Aussie rubbish

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) — Tens of thousands of Australian households will have their rubbish and recycling monitored by tracking devices placed in their dustbins in a move dubbed by the media as "Bin Brother".

Officials on Monday confirmed that 78,000 new council-issued bins in the eastern suburbs of Sydney have been fitted with small radio frequency tags, which allow for data collection.

Each bin will transmit a unique identification code to the rubbish truck which weighs and empties it each week, allowing officials to identify how much waste is produced at each address.

The technology, which is similar to that used to track cattle, will tell the council whether residents are using the bins correctly or mixing recyclable material in with trash destined to become...