That's garbage...

Let's face it: societies produce a lot of trash. Today, efficient trash collection has become an important part of our society. In Aspropyrgos, a fast-growing suburb of Athens, Greece, recent urban growth has put stresses on the basic services in the city, including garbage collection.

Complaints of missed or infrequent collections, largely made by business owners, led the municipality to seek a means of better controlling its garbage-collection services. The city wanted to increase its ability to track the work completed by garbage collectors, and to do so in real time.

Recently, the city experimented with a three-month pilot program where garbage bins around the city were affixed with an RFID tag while readers were attached above the openings of the trucks.

Reportedly, several other cities are considering implementing the potential pilot tests.