My Trash Can Story

I stood in the main city park of Helsinki this week, and noted an abundance of these cans.  Hard metal type.....solar cells mounted on the top.  They have some mechanism/sensor which checks the contents and tells some maintenance guy who comes along....to empty the can.

Yeah, it's a lot of technology to push into a regular city garbage can.  What did guys do before the light business?  They lifted the top to gaze in.

Cost?  With the solar cell technology?  2013 pricing indicates it was around $3,000 in the US for such a can.  So you can figure in Helsinki, with a 23-percent tax rate....it's in the $4k range.

It's not a big park but I would guess at least a dozen cans placed around the park.....so they spent $60,000 minimum.

On the green bragging scale.....they got lots of points.  In terms of value or use?  I have my doubts.  Eventually, the cell will wear out and some replacement cell will have to be procured.  The disposal of the old cell?  That's a curious thing.  With various EU rules in effect, I doubt that you can just dump this or bury it.  So you might have to spend at least 100 Euro to dispose of one single cell like this.

I admit....the can is sturdy and could last forty years.  The cell?  I have my doubts that it lasts more than ten years.