Brussels city hall is to buy a batch of high-tech rubbish bins that send out a message when they need emptying, at a cost of €4,000 each.
The connected bins have already been tried out in New York, Amsterdam and Strasbourg – and 18 of them will enter service in the Brussels pedestrian zone by the end of this month.
Technology will allow bin collectors to become more efficient and reduce their rounds by 80%.
As well as transmitting a message when they are nearly full, the bins can also be locked shut remotely, in case of a security scare for example.
After the pedestrian zone in downtown Brussels, another 10 bins will be installed around the EU district in the coming months.