ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how radio frequency identification (RFID) is poised to help transform the way we handle our trash-our municipal solid waste (MSW). We provide an overview showing that trash trends in the United States are not good, as modern life has meant increasing volumes of trash that can be disposed of in fewer and fewer landfills. We examine how RFID can be employed in the MSW area to both facilitate the growth of pay as you throw (PAYT) use-based billing for waste management services and to promote incentive-based recycling programs, both of which aim to reduce the amount of trash entering our landfills. We discuss the prospects for the future as RFID is introduced into what is now $52 billion market for waste handling.
Modern life has become much more complicated and trashy. Every empty coffee cup, box of cereal, tissue, cracked CD case, and so on adds-up. In fact, according to the most recent data available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), every American man, woman, and child produces-on average-in excess of four and a half pounds of trash (formally referred to as municipal solid waste (MSW)). As can be seen in Figure 3.1, this represents over 75% increase in the per capita amount generated in 1960 and 50% increase over that found in 1980 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008).
