New Fee Means San Diego’s Trash Bins Are About to Get Smarter Too

San Diego is releasing a new batch of trash and recycling bins equipped with RFID (radio frequency identification) tags as part of its shift to a fee-based trash pickup system for single-family homes. 

The RFID chips are already embedded in the city’s green bins for organic waste. Now, they’ll be included in the new black and blue bins as well. The city plans to assign each chip to a specific address and use that information to record when and where the bin is picked up. 

The chips do not record or send live location data. Instead, they transmit a unique identifier to RFID readers on garbage trucks. When a truck lifts and empties the container, the chip communicates with the reader to log the time and date of collection. This information will be stored in a database, similar to the city’s Get It Done platform. 

A spokesperson for the city said the technology will help trash pickup run more smoothly. They can track which bins belong to what homes, like when someone throws hazardous waste in the wrong bin. Last week, two separate fires broke out in collection trucks because of a lithium battery and a patio heater. According to a city Facebook post, Fire-Rescue crews put both out fast, but the city warned these incidents are dangerous.  

“The RFIDs do not track anything, but the readers will be able to record which containers were collected. So, if the City learns that a particular truck’s load contains hazardous materials, the City will know which containers were picked up, as long as those containers had working RFIDs and as long as the truck’s reader detected the RFID when the container was emptied,” wrote Kelly Terry, senior public information officer for the city. 

The rollout comes as San Diego officials set out to charge single-family homeowners a special fee for trash collection. Earlier proposals set the monthly fee as high as $53. Following public backlash over the price, the city recently revised the proposed rate to $47.59 per month for full-service customers. The fee would increase gradually, reaching $59.42 by July 2027 under the revised proposal. Smaller bin users would pay less. 

San Diego’s new trash fee would still be among the most expensive in the county. It would be higher than rates in cities like La Mesa ($27.53), Carlsbad ($30.67), and Chula Vista ($36.80), but lower than Long Beach ($67.63), San Francisco ($121.93) and San Jose ($160.35). 

The City Council is expected to vote on setting a public hearing date for the updated fees today.

Source: Alina Ajaz, voicesofsandiego.org