Unfortunately, the number of people seeking shelter in waste and recycling bins is on the rise. Cold weather, increasing levels of homelessness, and ill-informed decisions, regularly lead people to climb into these bins to escape the elements. In some extreme cases the consequences of this can be fatal.

In a bid to combat this, here at Cawleys we ensure our collection personnel are trained to check the bins before they are emptied. Our procedures go a long way to protecting people that may have used the bins for shelter, however we recognise that using technology can go one step further in the protection of these individuals. As such, we are supporting a new scheme from Total Waste Solutions that uses a complex detection system to identify the presence of life in a bin. This ensures that our waste operatives are notified before the bin is tipped into the refuse truck.

The devices work by detecting life in the waste container and storing the information until the device is activated. If no one has climbed into the container a simple green light will  indicate that the container has not detected human life. Conversely, a red light will flash if someone is inside or has been inside since it was last emptied.

Worryingly, there have been 17 deaths in the last decade caused by individuals who have taken shelter in bins and have not been detected before the bins are emptied.

The human detector is a great solution to a very real and current problem and Cawleys are extremely proud to be supporting this technology. We have installed a first wave of detectors at the University of Bedfordshire. The devices are attached to our bins that are situated on the main road where they are most likely to be used for shelter.

We hope that installing these devices and supporting Total Waste Solutions with this latest initiative will bolster the procedures we already have in place and ultimately save lives.