EP1426308A1

EP1426308A1 - Refuse bag

Info

Publication number: EP1426308A1
Application number: EP03027861A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Francesco Carcioffo
Original assignee: ACEA Pinerolese Industriale SpA
Current assignee: ACEA Pinerolese Industriale SpA
Priority date: 2002-12-06
Filing date: 2003-12-04
Publication date: 2004-06-09
Also published as: ITTO20021064A1

Abstract

There is described a differential solid urban refuse bag (1), characterized by having an inner surface and an outer surface (6, 7) of different colours, so that the bag can be used with either one of the surfaces (6, 7) facing outwards.

Description

The present invention relates to a differential solid urban refuse bag.
As is known, refuse collection and disposal are now a major issue, which is being tackled not only at a practical level with the introduction of new refuse processing technology designed to at least reduce environmental pollution, but also at legislation level, with the introduction of regulations prohibiting the dumping of certain types of refuse, e.g. so-called "wet" refuse, i.e. containing perishable organic substances responsible for the stench typically associated with dumping sites.
Over the past few years, particular emphasis has been placed on differential collection of solid urban refuse for recycling and conversion into useful products or resources.
The differential collection system most widely used at present is based on the use of bins of different types and colours for different types of refuse, e.g. special bins for glass, plastic, paper, etc.
The success of this system obviously depends on users conforming to the rules, i.e. placing refuse in the right bins.
Moreover, stationing different types of bins takes up a fairly considerable road area which could otherwise be used as vehicle parking space, and special-purpose vehicles are required for transporting different types of refuse to collection plants.
To eliminate or at least reduce some of the above drawbacks, an alternative differential urban refuse collection system has been proposed, which may be used in combination with or instead of the usual system.
More specifically, the proposed system employs different-coloured bags for different types of refuse, so that bags of different colours can be placed in the same bin and later separated according to colour at the collection plant, e.g. by means of optical reading devices.
Such a system would have the dual advantage of reducing the amount of road space occupied by the bins, and eliminating recourse to special-purpose vehicles for transporting different types of refuse to the collection plant.
On the other hand, a major drawback of the proposed system is the difficulty on the part of users in obtaining different-coloured bags for different types of refuse, and the common practice, as is known, of using ordinary plastic shopping bags for household refuse.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a differential refuse bag designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks.
According to the present invention, there is provided a differential solid urban refuse bag, characterized by comprising an inner surface and an outer surface of different colours, so that the bag can be used with either one of said surfaces facing outwards.
A preferred, non-limiting embodiment of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 shows a view in perspective of a differential solid urban refuse bag in accordance with the present invention;
Figures 2 and 3 show two different configurations in which the Figure 1 bag can be used;
Figure 4 shows, schematically, one step in the method of producing the Figure 1-3 bag.
Number 1 in Figures 1 to 3 indicates as a whole a differential solid urban refuse bag in accordance with the present invention.
Bag 1 is of conventional design, i.e. has a top opening 2, and is substantially defined by two facing walls 3 and 4 joined peripherally, with the exception of the top edge, and from which project, at said top edge, two inverted V-shaped strips defining respective grips 5.
An important characteristic of the present invention is that bag 1 is defined internally and externally by respective surfaces 6 and 7 of different colours, so that the bag can be used with either one of said surfaces facing outwards.
That is, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, bag 1 can be turned easily inside out, with the colour of either surface 6 or 7 facing outwards, so that the same two-colour bag can be distributed for use as both an ordinary shopping bag, and for differential solid urban refuse with the surface, 6 or 7, of the colour corresponding to the type of refuse in question facing outwards.
For example, the two colours of surfaces 6, 7 of bag 1 may be used for wet and dry solid urban refuse collection respectively.
As shown schematically in Figure 4, bag 1 is preferably made of plastic sheet material, normally polyethylene, formed by laminating two different-coloured films 8, 9 defining respective surfaces 6, 7.
More specifically, films 8 and 9 are fed through two laminating rollers 10 to form a single sheet which can then be cut to form individual bags 1.
Making bag 1 from two different-coloured films 8, 9, as opposed to simply using one film of a different colour on each side, provides for better distinguishing the two colours, and so assisting recognition by the optical reading devices at the refuse collection and sorting plant.
The advantages of bag 1 according to the present invention will be clear from the foregoing description.
In particular, bag 1 can be used with either of different- coloured surfaces 6, 7 facing outwards.
As such, the same type of bag (1) can be used for differential collection of two types of refuse, e.g. wet and dry solid urban refuse.
Simply distributing bag 1 as an ordinary shopping bag ensures a ready supply to users of both colours required for respective types of refuse.
Clearly, changes may be made to bag 1 as described and illustrated herein without, however, departing from the scope of the accompanying Claims.
In particular, bag 1 may advantageously be made of other types of sheet material, such as paper or cloth.

Claims

A differential solid urban refuse bag (1), characterized by comprising an inner surface and an outer surface (6, 7) of different colours, so that the bag can be used with either one of said surfaces (6, 7) facing outwards.
A bag as claimed in Claim 1, characterized by being made of a sheet material formed by laminating two different-coloured films (8, 9) defining respective said surfaces (6, 7).