It talks to you, “Only one item at a time please” it says as you approach. I haven’t tried it yet so I don’t know what happens if you put something in that it doesn’t want. Does it spit it out? Here’s a close up of the business end. Oh, you also get points, so don’t forget your “loyalty” card.
It only accepts glass, plastic and cans so there is no longer any facility here to recycle paper, cardboard or tetra pack cartons. Anyway to the side of each of the two entry points there is what looks like a conveyor belt, so I imagine you would able to see your recycling being shunted off to the sorting procedure. To the left of the business end there are 4 large hinged doors, presumably each containing the correct uncontaminated items. I am assuming here that it can distinguish between ferrous and non-ferrous metals, the other two bins being for glass and plastic. I wouldn’t mind betting also that the tin cans are crushed on the way to the bin.So, what are we to make of this? The public recycling points found in car parks and on High Streets are usually provided by the local authority with the agreement of supermarkets where they are on their land. But this one is provided by Tescos. Are they about to cream off the profitable bits of the recycling market and leave the unprofitable bits to the council? It is certainly some investment and will also cost to run, it must be powered somehow. I can’t see them doing this unless there is a financial advantage, can you?
It does look like something more significant than a publicity stunt, but so far I haven't seen anybody using it. Want to bet it swallows your Tesco loyalty card and munches it up, the way Barclays does with credit cards?
ReplyDeleteThere wasn't exactly a queue when I took the photos!
ReplyDeleteThe hinged doors are for the gnomes who do the sorting to get in and out.
ReplyDeleteOr, perhaps they have hired some Wombles?
I have used it once and I now know why there are no queues there.
ReplyDeleteAs your picture shows, there is what looks like a whole bank of recycling bins, again as you pointed out in the article there is just ONE space. Now this is placed at the right hand corner of this imposing area which means that if you had a queue, the other cars would have to park in front of you, as there is no space to park behind a car being emptied of cans etc - especially if its a large Volvo estate!
The process of getting the cans/bottles in is time consuming, not least that you have to load them in one at a time and if you do make a mistake and 2 get put into the machine, then the door opens and you have to retrieve one offending item - if you have a green box full, you will be there some time, then the machine asks you for your clubcard etc. Oh, and you only get a point for each can you get rid of - not plastic bottles or glass bottles!
The old system they had was much better and of course it took paper, clothes at the same time, making it easier for people to recycle ALL their rubbish in one place - the whole point of getting people to change habits is to make it easy for them to do so - my advice is to use the Council facility at Fullwell X car park in Craven Gardens, you might not get Clubcard points but you will raise the recycling figures for the Borough and do the job in one hit!
Update: today I visited armed with some recycling. Guess what? It was broke, kerplunk, out of order. He he! So I reported it and did some man shopping and on the way out it was working again. Cooe! You put an item in, it recognises it and displays what it is on the screen above “glass”, “tin”, “plastic” doors at the rear open and in it goes. You then see it in a bucket on a conveyor belt being taken away, and if it’s glass you hear it being smashed as it falls into the container a few seconds later. This is rather odd because on the front it says it doesn’t want “broken glass”. Anyhoo, I like testing machines, I’m an engineer, so I took along a Tetrapak to see what would happen with something it doesn’t want. Aha! It accepted it, thinking it was plastic. So now you all know what to do with your Tetrapaks, don’t you!
ReplyDeleteWould B21's man shopping be recycable shortly after a sojourn in the man fridge in the garage?
ReplyDeleteNaughty intelligent B21 spoiling the plastic recycling with tetrapaks. Of course, if man is replaced by a blind machine, man will do his upmost to beat it and, in this case, succeed!
annesevant
Yes, Anne - Mostly bottles and cans.
ReplyDelete