Garbage can camera checks recycling performance

A desire named Bincam Facebook. Julia Miebach, left, and Anja Thieme, right, are seen with the Bincam and a laptop showing the Bincam facebook page. The program puts a photograph of every item placed in a garbage can on Facebook in a bid to raise consciousness about recycling efforts. It uses a sensor and a camera phone to record the image each time the garbage can lid is shut. Households that participate will be rated on how efficiently they recycle.(AP Photo)

LONDON — Newcastle University students are being taught how to be more efficient recyclers by new technology that posts their garbage on Facebook.

A sensor and camera phone inside the garbage cans takes images of every item placed inside, not the person who left it.

The test program is being used in five student households and their recycling performance is being continually assessed.

Postgraduate students who set up the pilot project said Wednesday that having your garbage posted on Facebook will raise awareness about the need to control waste.

The project is aimed at young people whose attitudes about sustainability are still being formed.