EP0915035A1

EP0915035A1 - System for the differentiated collection of household waste

Info

Publication number: EP0915035A1
Application number: EP98811053A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stefano Mondini; Francesco Sampietro
Original assignee: Mondotech SA
Current assignee: Mondotech SA
Priority date: 1997-11-05
Filing date: 1998-10-22
Publication date: 1999-05-12

Abstract

A description is given of a system (1), for the differentiated collection of household waste, composed of a plurality of adjacent collecting units (2,3,4) each comprising a container (9,10,11) and an entrance port (6,7,8) and each designed to take one particular type of waste, in which system each of the said collecting units (2,3,4) is provided with means (5) for determining the total volume or total number of waste items introduced into it by an individual user, converting these values into algebraic numbers, storing them electronically and transferring them when desired to a memory-containing support which is connected to these means and can sum these values algebraically.

Description

The present invention relates to the technological field of systems for the differentiated collection of household waste.
Such systems currently consist of simple containers, sometimes buried in the ground, which have an entrance port for introducing the said waste. In recent times, in several countries the cost of disposing of this waste has increased so much that the various authorities have been compelled to investigate the possibility of charging each user in proportion to the amount of waste deposited in the collecting systems.
At the same time it has been found to be potentially productive, for the purposes of reducing the amount of waste sent for destruction, to encourage differentiated collections, which also make it possible to recycle at least part of the waste such as glass or synthetic resin bottles, metal containers and so on.
As far as the inventors of the invention forming the subject matter of the present application are aware, no way has yet been found of actually putting into practice the ideas indicated above.
To solve the problem the inventors have devised a system, for the differentiated collection of waste, which has means of recording the amount of waste deposited by an individual user and charging or crediting to him or her a sum proportional to the amount of either nonrecyclable or recyclable waste deposited by the user.
The subject of the present invention actually consists of a system for the differentiated collection of household waste of the type described in the preamble of the attached Claim 1, characterized by the characterizing part of the same claim.
A preferred illustrative embodiment of the system according to the invention will now be described in greater detail: for this purpose reference will also be made to the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a partial perspective view of the said example of a system according to the invention comprising three adjacent units;
Figure 2 shows an enlarged perspective view of the entrance port only of the unit designed for collecting nonrecyclable waste;
Figure 3 shows an enlarged view of a typical cross-section of one of the units of the system according to the invention;
Figure 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of a collecting unit for recyclable waste capable of separating out waste made of different nonmagnetic materials; and
Figure 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of a collecting unit for recyclable waste, capable of separating out metallic waste.

Referring to Figure 1, it will be noted that the example described comprises three adjacent units 2, 3, 4 composed of three entrance ports denoted 6, 7, 8, respectively, and three containers 9, 10, 11 for the respective types of waste.
Each entrance port 6, 7, 8 is provided with electronic means 5. These are sketched only as being generic with regard to their form. They determine by known methods the total volume or total number of waste items introduced by a user in a single operation, and convert these values into algebraic numbers which they then store electronically.
In order to make each of the said entrance ports passable the user must first connect these means 5 to an electronic memory-containing support (not shown) which he has in his possession. In this way the user himself can be identified "electronically", using methods which by now are well known to those skilled in the art, and the said algebraic values corresponding to the complete operation in which he has introduced the waste into the different collecting units can be transferred to the said memory-containing support which he has in his possession, the said values being added to any algebraic number that may already be present therein.
The inventors envisage that the system in question and the said means 5 be constructed in such a way that it is also possible, for example for a local authority, to read at predetermined time intervals the data on the said memory-containing support associated with an individual user and thus determine the amount of waste deposited by that user, and so calculate how much to charge the user.
By so designing these means 5 that they transfer, to the said memory-containing support, algebraic numbers of opposite sign for the introduction of either recyclable or nonrecyclable waste, it is possible to then charge the user a certain amount for nonrecyclable waste, on the one hand, and credit him on the other with another predetermined amount for recyclable waste deposited by him or her.
As a result, differentiated collection of waste is encouraged, leading to the benefits and savings by now familiar to all who work in waste disposal.
In each collecting unit 2, 3, 4, the said means 5, or rather, in general, the electronic system with which they are provided, can be provided with the components necessary to determine, as stated, the amounts of waste deposited by each individual user, in order to determine the total amount (number or volume) of waste items introduced into it and lying there, and transmit the corresponding information, by data communication means, to a remote central receiving control station.
The enterprise or agency whose job it is to manage the collecting systems within a defined area (town, district, etc.) can, by recording this information, not only correctly charge the costs to the individual users but also collect the said waste, i.e. empty the said containers 9, 10, 11, with the minimum use of time and staff by avoiding collecting it too frequently or allowing the systems to become unusable because already overfull.
An example of an embodiment of the said means 5, as far as computing the waste introduced by a user, as described above, is concerned, consists in using an electronic counting, storing and user-identifying system which may be connected simply by contact with a memory-containing identification key of known type which is given to the user, and onto which the said algebraic numbers are transferred.
Obviously, as regards the recycling of the sums to be charged or credited, it is important that the waste collection agency should work out appropriate multipliers which may be varied to suit the different situations.
With regard to the making of the actual structure of the system 1, in the example illustrated it is composed of a unit 2 for collecting containers such as bottles or cans, a unit 3 for collecting paper and a unit 4 for collecting bags containing nonrecyclable waste.
In the case in which unit 2 is intended for collecting bottles, it comprises an opening 20 shaped for the passage of one bottle at a time, and an openable shutter 13 which, located on the base of the entrance port 6, communicates with the inside of a container 9 of predetermined volume: the latter is located underneath, usually underground as shown in Figure 3 relating to a collecting unit of a different type.
The inventors have also envisaged the advantageous possibility of installing a rotating dividing plate 23, as sketched in Figure 4. This is moved with extreme rapidity as indicated by the arrows K by an electric motor operated by one or more sensors that distinguish, e.g., receptacles made of P.E.T. (polyethyleneterephthalate) from glass receptacles, and direct them towards one 9N or other 9P of two separate sectors in the container 9.
A counter 12 determines the number of receptacles introduced and stores it in the memory already referred to of the electronic means 5.
If the same type of unit for recyclable receptacles is used, with the appropriate modifications, to collect metallic receptacles, or metallic objects more generally, the inventors have also envisaged installing (see Figure 5) a crushing piston 14 which is made of ferromagnetic material with a low residual induction, that is an electromagnetic crushing piston, with which, when depositing waste, the user can, before opening the lower shutter 13, compress the material against a side wall of the entrance port, as indicated by the arrow Q.
Aluminium containers, such as cans and so forth, are squashed and, when the said shutter 13 is opened, fall into a first sector 9M of the container 9, whether or not the electromagnet is energized.
Ferromagnetic receptacles, on the other hand, are compressed and retained by the magnetic attraction of the head of the said piston 14 which, after returning to its initial position, is de-energized, allowing them to drop into a second sector 9S of the container 9 which is separated from the said first sector 9M by a fixed dividing plate.
Figure 3 meanwhile shows a unit for collecting paper, cardboard and the like: waste of this kind is introduced through an opening 21 until a chamber 30 is filled. The user then recloses the said opening 21 and opens a system of trapdoor shutters 31 allowing the contents of the chamber 30 to fall into the container 10 beneath.
A counter may e.g. determine the number of times the shutters 31 have been opened and reclosed, and send this datum to a memory contained in the electronic system 5. The datum is then forwarded to the user identification key, as stated earlier.
The same types of components can be installed in an entrance port 4 for nonrecyclable waste illustrated in Figure 1 and in Figure 3: the opening 22 for the introduction of the bags is at the top, and opens upwards to permit the introduction of one or more bags 33.
Once all the space has been filled in a chamber 15 defined in the entrance port 8, the opening 22 is reclosed and shutters 32 of the type described earlier are opened, causing the said bags 33 to fall into the container 11, which is preferably underground.
Clearly, the flaps and similar members that open and reclose the said openings for the introduction of waste must be connected mechanically to the said systems of shutters 13, 31, 32 in such a way that the opening of the latter presupposes the closing of the openings 20, 21 and 22.
This therefore enables exact records to be kept of the waste introduced and limits the escape of gases and vapours from inside the container 9, 10, 11 into the external environment.
It is also suggested by the inventors that each waste container be ventilated by suitably arranged openings in order to limit phenomena of fermentation and stagnation of foul-smelling gases.
In order to make a collecting unit 4 for nonrecyclable waste more vesatile, the inventors have envisaged that the said shutters 32 (or a bulkhead 39 as in Figures 1 and 2) be so constructed that their level can be adjusted up and down in order to modify the volume defined by the said chamber 15: this will better protect a user who has only a limited volume of waste to introduce and is thus not charged for a greater volume than necessary.
Obviously, as the volume of the chamber 15 varies, the absolute value of the said algebraic number stored by the means 5 must vary in proportion.
Both the operations of opening and closing the various members, and those of varying the volume of the chamber 15 described earlier can be automated and performed by one or more low-voltage (e.g. 24 V) electric motors controlled by buttons and/or selectors, consent having been given when the said identification key was applied.
Both the number and type of collecting units arranged together to form a system according to the invention can be varied to suit requirements: even units for collecting oils or other types of waste can be installed; in the same way the shape and location of the various component parts can be modified by a person skilled in the art to create forms different from those described thus far and depicted in the drawings, but always falling within the scope of protection conferred by the present application if derived from the concepts expressed in the appended Claim 1.

Claims

System (1), for the differentiated collection of household waste, composed of a plurality of adjacent collecting units (2, 3, 4) each comprising a container (9) and an entrance port (8) and each designed to take one particular type of waste, the system being characterized in that each of the said collecting units (2, 3, 4) is provided with means (5) for determining the total volume or total number of waste items introduced into it by an individual user, converting these values into algebraic numbers, storing them electronically and transferring them when desired to a memory-containing support which is connected to these means and can sum these values algebraically.
System according to Claim 1, in which the said means (5) with which it is provided also calculate the sum of the absolute values of the numbers correponding to the said values determined for the total volume or number of waste items in a predetermined time period and send the corresponding information, by data communication means, to a remote central receiving station.
System according to one of the previous claims, in which one of the said collecting units (2, 3, 4) determines the number of recyclable waste items inserted into it, transferring to the said memory-containing support an algebraic number of predetermined sign.
System according to one of the previous claims, in which at least one (4) of the said collecting units (2, 3, 4) measures the total volume of nonrecyclable waste introduced into it in a single operation and transfers to the said memory-containing support an algebraic number of predetermined sign proportional to the said total volume.
System according to Claim 3, in which at least one (2) of the said collecting units (2, 3, 4) has an entrance port (6) designed to allow the introduction of one recyclable receptacle at a time, and has an article-counting device (12) that determines the total number of recyclable items inserted by an individual user.
System according to Claim 5, employing means capable of recognizing the material of which each individual receptacle is made as it is introduced, and directing it accordingly to different, separated zones (9N, 9P) which make up the said container (9).
System according to Claim 4, in which at least one (4) of the said collecting units has an entrance port (8) comprising a chamber (15) of defined volume with a base (16) that opens on command from the user, which unit includes a device for determining the number of times the said base is opened by the user in total and transfers to the said memory-containing support the said corresponding algebraic number of predetermined sign.
System according to Claim 7, in which the volume of the said chamber (15) can be modified by the user, the value of the algebraic number corresponding to the volume of waste contained in the said chamber being thereby modified.
System according to one of the previous claims, in which the algebraic numbers generated by the introduction of recyclable waste are of opposite sign to the sign of the algebraic numbers generated by the introduction of nonrecyclable waste.
System according to one of the previous claims, in which the said entrance ports (6, 7, 8) possess means for making them passable only during the period in which the said memory-containing support is connected to the said means of determining the total volume or total number of waste items introduced into these ports (6, 7, 8).