Is Beijing using “facial recognition” for garbage sorting?

Recently, at No. 1 Xinfeng Street, Desheng Street, Xicheng District, Beijing, "face recognition" was used for garbage sorting! Residents have to "scan their faces" before throwing away garbage. After recognition, the system automatically opens the classification outlet and gives points to the thrower based on the garbage thrown.

This set of intelligent garbage sorting equipment has been installed in No. 1 Xinfeng Street for just over two months. It is a pilot project for the integration of the garbage sorting network and the renewable resource recycling network in Desheng Street. The street invested in the installation of 26 sets of intelligent garbage cabinets at 16 locations in the community.

Each group of garbage cabinets has inlets for kitchen waste, recyclable waste, and other waste. The most detailed group of smart cabinets has seven inlets for paper, plastic, metal, textile, kitchen waste, other waste, and battery and electronic waste. Before the smart equipment is put into use, the community and property management will collect portrait information from each household. Residents who are recorded in the portrait collection system will automatically open the inlet as long as they walk in front of the camera of the garbage cabinet.

In addition to the smart trash cans that can be opened based on the person who uses it, there is also an automatic trash bag dispenser in the community. Residents can scan the QR code on the machine with their mobile phones to receive free trash bags that are enough for their families to use for a month. The trash bags are also printed with a QR code logo.

The integration of the garbage classification network and the renewable resource recycling network aims to further enhance residents' awareness of garbage classification and the quality of garbage classification. "The reason why the pilot project was carried out in No. 1 Xinfeng Street is that this courtyard has a foundation for garbage classification for more than 10 years," said the relevant person in charge of the street.

No. 1 Xinfeng Street is one of the earliest residential areas in Beijing to carry out garbage sorting. The community has more than 1,900 permanent residents, more than 80% of whom are cadres and employees of the central government agencies. "Beijing advocates garbage sorting, and the central government agencies should take the lead, assume social responsibility, and play a leading role in demonstration," said Sun Chunming, director of the First Division of the Property Service Center of the Central Government Agencies, who is responsible for the property management of the community.

Since 2006, No. 1 Courtyard of Xinfeng Street has been practicing garbage classification. From the beginning, the property cleaners manually sorted the collected garbage to the distribution of classified garbage bins to each household, sorting from the source, garbage classification has been implemented in the community for more than 10 years. In 2014, the community property sought relevant policy support and equipped two devices to carry out on-site harmless treatment of the community's kitchen waste. Now, the approximately 1.5 tons of kitchen waste generated in the community every day can be consumed locally, and the generated reclaimed water and residues can be directly discharged into the municipal pipe network.

"No matter how advanced the machinery and equipment are, they are only auxiliary. Cultivating people's awareness of garbage classification is still the first priority." Sun Chunming introduced that since April 2017, the property management company has started to organize residents to sign a green commitment letter. At present, more than 1,700 households have signed it, promising to "respect garbage classification instructors, abide by garbage classification management regulations; be frugal and do a good job in reducing garbage, and accurately classify their own kitchen waste", etc. The signing and implementation of the commitment letter are linked to benefits such as free garbage bins and garbage bags. At present, the community property management company is also exploring the linking of garbage classification and the points obtained from garbage classification with other community services such as elderly care and volunteer services, so that residents can participate more enthusiastically.

No. 1 Xinfeng Street is a microcosm. Xicheng District will create 10 garbage classification demonstration areas by the end of this year, achieving full coverage of garbage classification in 10 streets including Xinjiekou, Desheng, West Chang'an Street, Tianqiao, Taoranting, Financial Street, Zhanlan Road, Baizhifang, Yuetan and Guangnei, and build a renewable resource recycling network system, explore the establishment of renewable resource recycling trading points and transfer stations, so that renewable resources can be recycled.