PAY-AS-YOU-THROW; MODERN PILOT APPLICATION IN GREECE

SUMMARY: In this paper a Hellenic funded project activities are described; the project, emphasis is put on recycling and the particular principle that will be pursued behind this concept is to provide citizens with incentives and technological tools that will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of recycling in municipal scale. The proposed system will be introduced at a pilot scale in a Municipality in Greece. The proposed project will aims at developing and implementing a customized user (recycler) identification system (smart card, thumb scan, PIN, etc) which will provide Local Authorities and citizens with a virtual identity and store relevant data. The identification system will be adjusted to a series of recycling bins. The system will use a digital scale to determine the weight of the collected recyclables and will transmit the output to a server. A web-based application will be used to check their recycling progress, collect points and claim benefits (e.g. products, services or reduction in the waste charges). A novel BIS system is under development with characteristics and potentials which will allow via the use of software optimization techniques, the proper management of the container location and distribution in a specific urban area, as well as the collection from each container, etc.