Talkin’ Trash--the Recyclable Kind, That Is

Technology turns up in the oddest places--even in the trash bin.

Automated recycling centers have recently cropped up in local supermarket parking lots, making it more convenient to redeem bottles and cans.

The new RePlanet centers are self-serve and keep the same schedule as supermarkets. Customers just feed containers into the machines, which sort them and spit out receipts to be cashed inside stores.

The $50,000 gadgets, designed by Tomra Systems SAS of Norway, have replaced drop-off centers that were open just 30 hours a week and needed attendants to calculate the value of recyclables. Common in Scandinavia, RePlanets are being introduced in California before the rest of the nation because of the state’s unique recycling program.

Laser-scanning technology enables RePlanet centers to recognize thousands of different container designs and determine their deposit value, a task becoming increasingly complex in California.

The state has offered cash for certain used bottles and cans since 1987, but added water, fruit juice, tea and other noncarbonated beverage containers to the list of redeemables in December.

RePlanet distinguishes between valid and invalid containers by taking 25 digital photographs in seconds, then comparing the images with those in its database.

“It’s much faster and more reliable than bar codes because bar codes can be damaged,” said Greg Garvey, chief executive for Tomra’s North American branch.

While similar optical imaging technology has been used in industrial settings, it had been thought to be too expensive and complicated for smaller, consumer-oriented recycling jobs, Garvey said.

RePlanets are now in use at 56 Southland supermarkets--Stater Bros., Ralphs, Albertsons and Vons--including 16 in Orange County. Tomra plans to add 400 more in California and to roll out the program nationally later this year.

Since last fall, when 10 machines were tested in a pilot program, the centers have taken in more than 32 million containers, Tomra said.

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Karen Alexander covers high technology for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-5637 or at [email protected].