St. Louis, MO (KMOX) - A Saint Louis University researcher wants to tag your garbage to see what's been thrown out and where it ends up. "Garbage is an area that has a huge environmental impact and there's a lot that we can do on the management side," explains Orhun Aydin, assistant professor in Earth and Atmospheric Science at SLU’s School for Science and Engineering.
Aydin points out the challenge of solid waste management and recycling is that often only a small fraction of the recyclables collected are actually recycled. Mismanaged solid waste is routed to landfills and incinerators. His team will be using a nearly $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to put sensors in garbage and recycling bins around the City of St. Louis.
"These are small self powered sensors, geospatial sensors in that they collect locational information," explains Aydin. "These will be embedded in waste and recycling bins so that we can gather near live information about what is being thrown away." The sensors will be connected to an IoT or an "internet of things" system to gather data to help waste management companies better allocate resources for collecting recycling the most effective way. They cost $5 each.
The sensors can also detect the composition of what's being thrown away. For example they sense methane, which indicates decaying food. Aydin adds, "and for recyclables, we have optical sensors where we can detect the shape and also infer the composition. Is this plastic? Is this a bottle? Is that cardboard? et cetera."
There's also an educational component. The research team is partnering with EarthDay 365, a non-profit whose goal is a more equitable and environmentally sustainable St. Louis region, to design educational programming based on its findings.
SLU says the first round of sensors is going out, and includes areas with high recycling rates along with areas regularly targeted for illegal dumping.
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