Technology fails 'pay-as-you-throw' trial run

Greenbang hasn’t felt this let down since England failed to qualify for Euro 2008. OK, maybe a few times since, but it’s a big blow. A trial run for a ‘pay as you throw’ trial in Norfolk has been halted because the technology wasn’t reliable enough.

The project, which aimed to give money back to households that produce little waste and fine those who throw lots has been scrapped by Norfolk council citing inconsistent and unreliable weighing data, computer problems, electrical and equipment failures and unacceptable delays to the daily bin rounds for the termination.

The problem was first spotted in 2006 and, since a £1.123m grant had been spent on the service the council persevered for another year.

Council Leader John Fuller said:

“Any chip-in-bin system would have to accurately record the weight of every bin, every week, without mistakes, for a whole year. But the system simply didn’t work reliably enough.

“A system that sounded good on paper in London failed to work at 7.30am on a cold and wet Monday in December in South Norfolk. It was time to bin the technology.”