As London has not been hitting recent recycling targets, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are doing an experiment to tag rubbish to show people where it actually ends up.

The experiment which is being done in collaboration with New Scientist magazine will follow London rubbish from outside your house, then onto landfills, recycling sites and then wherever it ends up.

A trial run has already started on 50 waste bins in the USA and then thousands of home’s rubbish bins will be tagged this summer in London, New York and Seattle.

In order to track the waste a small device will be attached to the rubbish. Each tracker has a SIM card and will beep the location of the rubbish every 15 minutes via mobile network antennas, this information will then be relayed back to the scientists.

Editor of New Scientist magazine, DR Roger Highfield, said “It’s very easy to throw something in the bin and never think about it again especially as you will have no idea what effect it is causing on the environment. Poor recycling is not just a problem facing London; it is a problem that is facing the whole planet.”

“Everyone is responsible and the trackers will show us to what extent.”

The results of the trash tracker experiment will be posted on the New Scientist website and in the magazine in the near future.