Glenn Wickman
PLANS are under way to instal ‘intelligent’ refuse containers in Valencia province that identify users and personalise household rubbish-collection tax according to the amount of rubbish generated by each family.
Local councils in La Safor, la Vall d’Albaida, la Costera, la Canal de Navarres and Valle de Ayora will be able to request the new bins with help from the COVID-19 emergency funds from the EU.
The plans follow the logic that if water and electricity bills vary according to consumption, so too should rubbish collection tax, with benefits for recycling and reducing wastage.
An IT system will be fitted to the containers that will open after reading an ID card or code and measure the amount of refuse generated by each household over a year, with the total added up and used as a basis to work out how much they should pay.
The upgrade will be partly financed by the EU, as it fits in with community plans to reduce the carbon footprint and reward those who recycle as much as possible.
Spokespeople for the provincial refuse treatment committee suggest that the first ‘intelligent bins’ could enter service between 2022 and 2023.
