RecycleCheck allows people in New York City to see if items are eligible to be recycled — by calling a local phone number. By using the numbers within UPC/ISBN/SKU bar codes on products, people get precise recycling information for up to 600,000 products listed within a publically-available database. What's more, people can learn what the products are recycled into, learn about upcoming recycling events and find recycling centers in their area of the city.

RecycleCheck started a few weeks into the semester when our class was assigned a project focusing on tools for the kitchen. During our first meeting, we decided to focus on recycling — or the lack thereof. We determined early on that most people in New York City are confused about what they can and cannot recycle. With that in mind, we set out early to solve this problem.

Through analysing urban recycling habits with a user-center design approach, we realized that there are two types of people: those who do not recycle and those who recycle and would be open to improving their recycling habits with additional tools. We decided to work with the latter.

RecycleCheck is designed for people who are committed to recycling. We understand that using this service adds another step in the recycling process. That said, we also understand that this service clearly and unequivocally answers the question "Can this be recycled?" Currently, this is limited to items with bar codes. The next iteration will be expanded to include searches for items without bar codes.

The only requirement of the user is have a phone. The concept of RecycleCheck is flexible enough to enable a Web-based version, however, we are focusing on the phone solution at launch due to its ubiquitous availability.

For the purposes of this scenario, we will use a 2-liter soda bottle as the item in question.

1) User finishes the contents of the bottle.
2) User knows that the bottle can be recycled, but isn't sure if the cap goes in the trash or if the bottle should be rinsed.
3) User calls 347-624-6132 and is prompted by the system through a series of steps.
4) User is prompted to enter the numbers within the bar code on the bottle.
5) User enters code; system responds "2-liter Cola-Cola. The bottle may be recycled with your other plastics and metals. The cap goes in the trash. Please rinse the bottle prior to recycling. If this is not the correct item, press pound or enter the bar code numbers for the next item."
6) User chooses next steps.

A user visits RecycleCheck and is presented with sample items that may or may not be recyclable. A flash demo will give information on RecycleCheck and provide the visitor with a phone number to dial. The user can then use his/her cell phone to call RecycleCheck to see if one of the items (that we'll provide) is recyclable. Once in the phone system, the user will be given additional, value added information about recycling the item through an interactive interface.

The system requires the following:
*Product data from a publicly-available database
*Phone hosting support
*Spoken description for every product entered; in New York, we'd like to have this available in 4 languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Russian

We discovered that there's no easy solution to this problem. While most people who do recycle recycle to the best of their abilities, there's a lot of guessing involved. Part of the problem lies with the city, which provides very basic information, such as charts and other literature. But a comprehensive solution is also difficult because there are a number of grey areas. For instance, the city recycles cardboard that is not soiled or "lightly soiled." How is someone supposed to know what the threshold is? This will be a difficult part to illustrate.