Recycl-o-sort: not a part of foreplay, but still very important

Even casual fans of Jemaine Clement could appreciate the Recycl-o-sort -- after all, it's hard to deny the vitalness of sorting out the recycling. In that spirit, a team of MIT students concocted a prototype that automatically sifts through recyclables and deposits them into the appropriate bin depending on makeup. The sun-powered device is currently being tested in Boston's Codman Square area as part of Family, Inc.'s recycling awareness campaign, and it reportedly uses a "turntable" to pass each item through a trio of sensors to determine whether it's aluminum, plastic, glass or just plain rubbish. Call us crazy, but this whole thing just brings back memories of that team building exercise we did back in '99.

[Via Core77]

[Jared Kole @ Dec 23rd 2007 8:32AM]

It's business time...

[Jared @ Dec 23rd 2007 8:36AM]

It's business time.

Also, it's Jemaine...

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 10:50AM]

Bret, check. Jermaine, check. Murray, check. Alright, good, all present.

[Andrew @ Dec 23rd 2007 10:51AM]

In case no one got the reference, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHOSEcmZvG8

[Kevin @ Dec 23rd 2007 7:03PM]

OR, you could watch the FUNNY version of this video.

This version has been viewed 50 TIMES as much as the other one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

[Taylor @ Dec 23rd 2007 8:45AM]

I know every week, I have to sort our household recycling crate into 5c refunds (here in Adelaide, Australia, cans, fruit boxes and beer bottles give 5 cent refunds on recycling to help prevent litter) and not-5c-refunds. I'd find this convenient.

Or I could just start putting the 5c refund items in a separate crate.

[tony @ Dec 23rd 2007 9:16AM]

i take my jeans off, but i trip over them because i'm still wearing my shoes... but it's ok, because i turn it all into a sexy dance.

[Jevanzz @ Dec 23rd 2007 9:28AM]

Lovin' the Flight of the Conchords reference, for that you win...

The Internets!!

[Calviin @ Dec 23rd 2007 9:34AM]

Nice to see I'm not the first to catch the Concords reference. It's Business Time.

[Kris @ Dec 24th 2007 6:37PM]

haha love that nearly every one here got it. Looks like Engadget would help if we found out there is no Season 2.

[Calviin @ Dec 23rd 2007 9:37AM]

Two minutes in heaven is better than one minute in heaven.

[bryant85x @ Dec 23rd 2007 2:50PM]

When it's with me you only need two minutes, 'cause I'm so INTENSE!

[Calviin @ Dec 23rd 2007 2:53PM]

Business hours are over! Baby!

[oyster @ Dec 23rd 2007 10:23AM]

They call it a fly because it takes you to heaven.

[Jake @ Dec 23rd 2007 10:41AM]

You know when I'm down to my socks it's time for business that's why they call them business socks.

[strider_mt2k @ Dec 23rd 2007 10:47AM]

Cool song, cool group.

[Ethan @ Dec 23rd 2007 10:57AM]

Recycling's biggest hurdle is human laziness, next to fear of looking stupid when you can't decide if the glass should be in the brown or green section. This eradicates both.

Congratulations to the references exposure brigade, you're doing wonderfully well.

[ScareyJ @ Dec 23rd 2007 11:20AM]

Besides laziness, cost is a huge hurdle. Recycling is just plain expensive from transporting, verifying sort, to actual processing. With devices like this, it could cut cost nicely ... we need to keep focusing as well on better materials that can be processes easier/cheaper (since most cost more to reprocess than they did to originally make).

kick@ss song!

[Guy @ Dec 23rd 2007 1:59PM]

Flight of the Conchords. Nice.

[Anton @ Dec 23rd 2007 2:06PM]

then you turn to me and say something sexy like "is that it?" i know what you're trying to say. you're trying to say "oh yea, that's it."

[Reader @ Dec 23rd 2007 2:44PM]

Never mind that it takes 3000W to power the beast, you are being environmentally friendly :D

Or you know you could just do what I do, instead of throwing it all in one bin just put it in the proper one to begin with.

[Robert Johnston @ Dec 23rd 2007 3:23PM]

Wow. You must really be blind to miss the part where it said it's SOLAR POWERED. That means no environments were harmed in the use of this device.

[Greg @ Dec 23rd 2007 7:46PM]

MIT didn't invent this, I made a similar gadget for a grade 6 science project. It was made of Mechano and magnets and ran on two AA batteries.

[Jager @ Dec 24th 2007 5:20AM]

Holy shit, my friends built this. And FYI: this is a senior team project class where students are tasked with building a commercial product. Its not about "inventing" in so much as making a marketable product. Kinda like how the original Macintosh took preexisting technology, but the packaging of it all together is what made it special.

Also, what was, imo, the most impression part of this project was the electrical engineering involved. It has a butt-load of sensors(light, pressure, conductance, etc.) and a couple motors involved, all controlled from a micro-controller board. Few undergrads anywhere, let along MIT, could handle designing, programming, and implementing a complete system from power source to control board.

[Kevin @ Dec 23rd 2007 7:02PM]

OR, you could watch the FUNNY version of this video.

This version has been viewed 50 TIMES as much as the other one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

[Solidarity @ Dec 26th 2007 3:12AM]

The first reference was cute, but then it kept going.