The recycling process is still imperfect and unfortunately contains many inefficiencies which make recycling far more expensive. Getting to know the different kinds of plastics can be difficult for household consumers, putting them off recycling all together in some cases.
Designer Woo Seok Park has come up with some technology which might help out on the recycling front. The Asimo, a Honda product, although not ready for wide scale use, is a robot which could assist in simplifying the recycling process.
The system uses product barcodes in order to classify types of recyclable plastic. The technology scans the barcode, then opens the correct lid of the box for that product. As a result, the technology helps consumers correctly separate their recycling with little confusion and more efficiency.
The technology would be best employed for the recycling of soft and hard plastics but unfortunately would not be useful for newspapers and paper or other products without barcodes.
The Barcode Trashcan is still in the concept phase but is an encouraging development in increasing the efficiency with which we recycle.
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