Most people assume that their trash ends up in a landfill somewhere far away (if they think about this at all). But growing concern over the environmental impact of waste—discarded electronics, in particular—has prompted a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) to take a high-tech approach to studying exactly what people are tossing out and where those items are ending up.

The researchers, part of M.I.T.'s Senseable City Lab, have developed electronic tags that they're hoping as many as 3,000 volunteers in Seattle and New York City will affix to different items they throw away this summer as part of the Trash Track program. These tags will contact cell phone towers they pass as they flow through the trash stream to their final destinations, helping the researchers monitor the patterns and costs of urban disposal.

The tags are battery-powered microprocessors with the ability to send out cell phone signals, says Assaf Biderman, associate director of Senseable City Lab. The lab's computer servers will track these signals as they are picked up by cell phone towers (each of which has an address), using the strength of the signal to determine the tag's distance from each tower and triangulate the approximate position of the trash.

Although some signals might be blocked as a result of tagged items being hauled or stored in steel or aluminum—conducting materials that block electrical fields—Biderman says the tags will resume functioning once the items are moved someplace more open. If the items don't move, then the lab's trash trackers will mark the spot where they lost the signal as the final resting place.

Of particular interest to the researchers are electronic waste (including computers, monitors and iPods) and plastics (which exist in a variety of forms, many of which are recyclable), not to mention all-time enemies of the environment such as Styrofoam and tires. "Some of these things are interesting to tag because of their impact on the environment, others because of their volume in relation to overall domestic waste," Biderman says. The best way to improve the sanitation system, he adds, is to look at how it functions and how objects move through its garbage trucks, trash barges, incinerators and landfills, among other components.

The researchers will present the results of their study at events held on September 17 at both the Seattle Public Library and the Architectural League in New York City. Each location will also feature an Internet-based presentation that lets attendees see tagged trash moving in real time. Trash Track is just one example of "Internet of things," Biderman says, which is "what happens when every object is addressable."

10 Comments

1. 1. hotblack 04:03 PM 7/17/09

   It goes "away", of course. Everyone knows that. No need to give it any further thought. Just "away"...

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2. 2. Soccerdad 07:59 PM 7/18/09

   I take exception with the statement in the article that Styrofoam and tires are "all-time enemies of the environment". Why exactly are they enemies of the environment. They would seem to be perfect materials for a landfill - inert and they never break down. Just another unfounded allegaton and sloppy reporting by SciAm.
   
   Sounds like kind of a dumb waste of money anyway. If you want to find out where the trash is going, just ask.
   

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3. 3. Chippy 09:08 PM 7/19/09

   MIT you either Love them Or Hate them. Some departments in particular are so far into the back pockets of special interests that they shall never see the light of day like this trash study.

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4. 4. jdh46 12:35 PM 7/20/09

   This sounds like a story that will keep itself going. We will probably find that if it stays in the US it will be disposed of somewhat properly (trash taken to landfills or incinerators).
   It doesnt tell us how it was thrown out; was it placed in a recycling container or a general trash dumpster?
   Also it might not tell us its true final resting place, if the battery dies or if there is no cell phone tower there is no telling where it is.
   
   Waste of time and money, thanks MIT can't wait for the next generation to come out and twitter me when my trash is being moved.

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5. 5. Catmando 09:59 PM 7/22/09

   Such apathy is disappointing.

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6. 6. Noosh in reply to Catmando 05:35 AM 7/23/09

   I actually found it quite interesting.

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7. 7. eco-steve 07:20 PM 7/27/09

   Trash is expensive to sort because as such it is labour intensive. One simple solution would be to put 'recycling bar codes' on everything which is produced, including sub-components, plastic objects etc. This would allow cheap accurate automated sorting suitable for recycling. It is high time we prepared for the depletion of ressources which will beset us this century...Time is not on our side.

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8. 8. cpdad93 09:51 AM 8/9/09

   well why not make things just a little easier to re-use thus creating recycling without melting it down...go back to milk in glass containers.....instead of can goods go back to mason jars and make all jars so homecanners can use them......our recycle program gave up on glass and now just pulverize it into the landfill because it cost too much to ship it for recycling....lets either use a little common sense or forget it

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9. 9. Josoton 11:30 PM 12/31/09

   To the first few commentators---if you've ever been to a third world country, you would not be so cavalier about not caring where your trash goes.

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10. 10. Jonas66 11:08 PM 9/5/10

    hilarious or pathetic? Just more trash on the trash to track the trash makes more trash, are they tracking that trash too? Do these idiots have a trash-project quota? honestly, social service sounds more productive.

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