RFID the victim again of 'trashy' writing

Here is a news story about trash pick-up companies in the UK outfitting their barrels with RFID tags. Whle I can think of several good reasons why they'd want to do this, apparently few involved in this piece or the reaction to it can think of any reason except that the government has a keen interest in everyone's trash. Well, I always knew that about the government, didn't you?
Half a million household wheelie bins have been secretly tagged with hidden electronic "bugs", it has been reported... Residents accused the local authority of acting like "Big Brother" after workers suddenly began fitting the devices to the rims of an estimated 90,000 bins.
Big Brother? Oh, brother!