Malfunctioning, complicated operation, high prices—have some public smart trash cans become just "decorative frames"?

Translated from: Xinhua News Agency

Currently, many places are continuously upgrading and renovating waste classification disposal facilities, upgrading smart waste sorting bins (rooms) in residential areas and public spaces through government procurement, resulting in improvements in hygiene, appearance cleanliness, and disposal experience.

However, investigations by Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporters have found that some public smart waste bins have fallen into dilemmas of malfunctioning, complicated operations, and high costs. Coupled with issues such as a lack of maintenance and excessive performance, they have become mere “window dressing,” impacting residents’ waste sorting experience and raising concerns about wasted public funds.

In an old residential community, the sensor opening of the smart waste bin remains perpetually open, and the electronic screen of the “holographic floating button” is powered off. All images in this group are credited to Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter Lan Tianming.

Some smart waste bins are “unusable, hard to use, and unnecessary.”

Recent visits by reporters revealed that problems frequently occur with some smart waste sorting facilities after installation, which not only fail to improve waste sorting efficiency but also turn intelligence into a “negative experience.”

— Malfunctioning, maintenance not timely. “The waste bin fails to open after multiple card swipes and QR code scans, showing no network. Traditional waste bins are not allowed on the ground, yet the smart disposal point is always unusable. Where do we put the trash?” Ms. Liu, a resident living in an eastern coastal city, reported that her community had set up smart waste bins, but due to frequent network issues, the bin doors often “cannot be opened,” forcing residents to leave their trash outside the bins.

During a visit to an old residential community in the city, reporters found that the sensor opening of the smart waste bin had been left open for a long time, and the sensor function had not been activated. Trash was piled up near the wall not far from the bin.

At a key university campus in the city, a large number of “dual-class smart IoT sanitation bins” equipped with solar panels have been set up. These bins come with automatic sensor openings, electronic screens, and other functions, with the electronic screens displaying real-time data such as “today’s disposal” and “today’s emptying.”

However, observations of 25 similar waste bins on campus revealed that 21 of the automatic sensor openings were damaged or malfunctioning, and 15 had both sensor openings and electronic screen functions failing, resulting in issues such as the bin doors not opening automatically and the screens being off. Some students forcibly pushed open the sensor openings or blocked them with large trash, preventing the doors from closing.

— Complicated operations, residents head straight for traditional bins. In another old community of the city, reporters experienced a four-class smart waste bin with a procurement price exceeding 100,000 yuan. The first use requires scanning a code on the touchscreen, registering a phone number, and uploading facial information before it can be used. Subsequently, each time the bin door is opened, users must enter their phone number or scan their face on the electronic screen, and touch the corresponding electronic button for the waste bin to dispose of their trash.

Waiting nearby for about 30 minutes, a total of 10 residents came to dispose of their trash, but they all unanimously bypassed the smart waste bins and headed straight for the traditional bins behind. “Shouldn’t smart waste bins make things easier? Now it’s more complicated; it’s a bit like window dressing,” one resident said.

— Excess performance, “cool” functions become “useless.” In another old community of the city, reporters saw that the smart waste bins could be opened using the “holographic floating button.” It was introduced that this “button” uses “medium-free aerial floating imaging” cutting-edge interaction technology, allowing a 3D projection button to form on a small screen installed next to the bin. When residents “touch” the virtual button from a distance, the corresponding waste sorting bin’s opening will automatically open.

However, reporters found that the electronic screen used to activate the “holographic floating button” was powered off, and the four doors of the waste bin were left open for a long time. “Every time the floating button is clicked, the system emits a prompt sound saying ‘Please sort your waste.’ Additionally, the sound of the bin door opening and closing is very loud, which has led to complaints from residents in nearby buildings. So during the day, we just cut the power to keep the doors open,” an administrator told reporters.

In an old residential community, elderly residents directly bypassed the smart waste bins and disposed of their waste into regular trash bins.

The procurement price of smart bins can be up to 70 times higher than traditional bins.

Reporters found that in publicly available government procurement information in the country, the procurement prices for smart waste sorting facilities are steep, with individual prices often reaching tens of thousands of yuan, and some exceeding 100,000 yuan.

For instance, in a certain provincial capital city in northwest China, the procurement results for urban household waste classification demonstration project waste sorting facilities (second bidding) released in August last year showed that the unit price for six four-class smart waste sorting bin rooms and two smart hazardous waste disposal bins reached 136,500 yuan and 45,800 yuan, respectively. The total price for just these eight waste collection facilities exceeded 900,000 yuan.

In a certain county in central China, the procurement announcement for the upgrade and renovation project of household waste sorting treatment facilities (household waste collection equipment) released in September last year showed that 20 “green smart waste sorting rooms” of the same brand were sold at the unit price of 63,000 yuan, while the unit price for “enclosed waste sorting collection stations” was only 4,400 yuan.

In November last year, the procurement results for the integrated update project of household waste sorting and sanitation facilities in a certain urban area in central China revealed that the total price for 100 sets of smart disposal bins was about 6.3 million yuan, with a unit price of 63,000 yuan, while the 480 sets of “four-class waste bins (made of HDPE material)” procured at the same time totaled 432,000 yuan, with a unit price of only 900 yuan.

In a certain street office of a major city in eastern coastal China, the procurement results for the project aimed at improving the effectiveness of household waste sorting showed that the unit price for special updates at 25 community disposal points was approximately between 50,000 and 60,000 yuan. The detailed renovation project list indicated that the price for the “smart disposal opening” was exorbitant, reaching up to 12,000 yuan per unit.

At the same time, reporters also found that some winning enterprises lacked strong connections to the research and development and production of smart sanitation equipment.

For example, in a certain county’s project for upgrading household waste sorting treatment facilities, the winning amount reached 15.58 million yuan, with procured equipment including waste sorting rooms, fruit peel bins, waste sorting collection stations, and household waste compression trucks. Through tools like Tianyancha, reporters found that the winning party was a limited liability company with a registered capital of only 500,000 yuan, with one shareholder and two employees. The company’s registered address was shown as a simple car sales shop built with color steel materials.

A supplier of smart waste bins and other products aimed at the North China region told reporters that their main business is to undertake government procurement. “Generally speaking, the government finds intermediary bidding companies, which then procure from us manufacturers. The reason for this is that the government typically has a payment period, so the bidding companies first advance funds to us for purchase. However, the factory price and the transaction price differ significantly; for a smart waste room, the price to the bidding company is 10,000 yuan, while the actual winning price may need to reach 30,000 yuan, with the basic price difference being over 100%.”

Within a key university in the eastern region, multiple smart waste bins had electronic functions that were malfunctioning or damaged.

Intelligence should not “supersede” practicality and savings.

Experts state that in promoting the upgrade and renovation of waste sorting facilities, “intelligence” should not overshadow practicality and cost-effectiveness. Financial investments need to be transparent, listening to public voices, and strengthening the evaluation and supervision of the practicality of procured facilities.

— Improve standards, eliminate blind “trend chasing.” Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of the Public Policy Research Center at Peking University, stated that many smart waste bins currently belong to non-standardized products, and procuring parties exhibit strong subjectivity in function selection. He suggests unifying and improving standards for government procurement of public smart waste bins regarding functional parameters, hardware materials, technical modules, and service fees, to avoid some regions blindly pursuing high-end, technologically advanced so-called “top configuration” waste collection facilities merely to “chase trends” or “ride the wave.”

— Based on practicality, define procurement by demand. “In the upgrade process of waste sorting facilities, it is essential to widely listen to public opinions and demands regarding these facilities and promptly adjust the types of products procured,” Wang Jieying, a partner at the Shanghai branch of Beijing Tianchi Juntai Law Firm, said.

She believes that government procurement of high-priced smart facilities should first conduct small-scale trials to evaluate their actual effectiveness in improving collection efficiency and reducing cleaning workload before deciding on bulk procurement. A feedback mechanism from the public can be established, and for those smart facilities reported with high failure rates and limited practical utility, procurement strategies should be adjusted in a timely manner.

— Strictly manage bidding to ensure “every penny is well spent.” Experts suggest that qualifications such as technical research and development and industry experience should be set as thresholds for companies participating in the bidding for smart sanitation facilities to prevent companies lacking professional capabilities from taking advantage. At the same time, when the government procures, it should strengthen price comparisons, not only comparing prices between different manufacturers for the same category of smart waste bins but also comparing them against traditional facilities to ensure that every financial expenditure is effectively utilized. (Reporter: Lan Tianming) (Contributors: Tang Yitian, Zhou Jiayi)