Recyclable items become 'Smart Trash'

One person's trash could be another person's treasure.

But now, if efficiently recycled, or our own trash could be worth some cash.

Valerie Thomas, an associate professor at Georgia Tech University, has developed an idea that provides a cash incentive for recycling called: Smart Trash.

Through Smart Trash, a scanner will be coded into trashcans that automatically records what is being disposed. The concept uses Radio Frequency Identification (RFI) tags that are already attached to many recyclable items, and Thomas hopes will soon appear in every item.

While recycling currently exists, through this system, more than paper, plastics and glass will find their way to the recycling bins - thus, making recycling a more efficient practice.

And with the incentive of extra cash, recycling can become a routine.

Thomas's goal is to have each Smart Trashcan's scanner linked to the internet that would register each item, and potentially, credit a person's trash credit, allowing them to receive a refund check with their garbage bill.