Economictheory

Thought there might be some interesting views on this debate which has made media lately - the link below details a somewhat controversial system recently introduced by Randwick council. Tracking chips installed on wheelie bins allow them to be identified as they are emptied into garbage trucks that are capable of weighing the bins. The theory goes that the technology will identify areas/suburbs where recycling isn't being embraced as desired. Some fear this as a Big Brother-type invasion of privacy.

Personally I think this is only a start towards better integration of recycling into our lives - I would certainly have no problem with the weight of my bin being recorded (or paying for it if it was deemed too much). I would argue that similarly to water and energy, the price we pay for waste disposal is way too low and doesn't even remotely reflect the impacts of our activities on the environment. I think the system should target individuals rather than suburb trends. Really, how will things be improved in areas that aren't recycling enough?

I think the hardest hurdle to get around is that people would obviously dump rubbish in other bins or worse, elsewhere in the environment, if there is a simple penalty for a too heavy bin. For starters, we need to be paying more for rubbish disposal to start with so that there are more funds available to raise penalty charges and monitoring. A quota system of a certain amount of allowable waste at the low cost and penalties above this (described in some detail as marginal cost pricing of garbage disposal in Kahn) have been effective elsewhere. I think there is also probably scope for some form of incentive like a rate reduction (i.e. garbage disposal rate) if non-recyclables/non-organic wastes are below a certain percentage of total wastes.