METHOD OF REUSING SHIPPING AND PACKING MATERIALS
First Claim
1. A method of reusing a recyclable container, said method comprisingdetecting data pertaining to a recyclable container using a data device situated on or in said container;
- using said data to determine a first amount of money charged for transfer of the container to a consumer;
transferring said container to the consumer, optionally after transfer of said first amount of money to a secure merchant account;
receiving said container from the consumer, optionally with contact information for said consumer;
examining said container and(a) revising said data pertaining to the container to indicate reuse if it is in condition to be reused;
or(b) sending said container to be recycled if it is not in condition to be reused, optionally with revision of said data pertaining to the container to indicate no reuse or recycling; and
optionally sending a second amount of money to said consumer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The inventions relate to systems and methods for reusing recyclable materials used in the manufacturing and transportation of goods, including containers used in the packaging and shipment of such goods. The disclosed systems and methods include the use of data devices to collect and report data associated with the recyclable materials. The data devices may collect information about recyclable materials and containers, including the amount of a deposit paid by a customer for a container, the receipt of the container at a service center and any amounts returned to the customer from a secure merchant account after an inspection of the condition of the container. The data device may also record the condition of the container, whether it is reused, refurbished and reused, or recycled, and how many cycles of use the container experiences.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of reusing a recyclable container, said method comprising
detecting data pertaining to a recyclable container using a data device situated on or in said container; -
using said data to determine a first amount of money charged for transfer of the container to a consumer; transferring said container to the consumer, optionally after transfer of said first amount of money to a secure merchant account; receiving said container from the consumer, optionally with contact information for said consumer; examining said container and (a) revising said data pertaining to the container to indicate reuse if it is in condition to be reused;
or(b) sending said container to be recycled if it is not in condition to be reused, optionally with revision of said data pertaining to the container to indicate no reuse or recycling; and optionally sending a second amount of money to said consumer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of processing reusable materials, said method comprising
receiving a reusable item with a data device, associated with unique identifier data, at a service center; -
logging receipt of the item using said unique identifier data; inspecting the container to determine whether the container may be reused; associating the inspection results with said unique identifier data; sorting reusable containers to send to manufacturers; and modifying the data associated with said unique identifier data to reflect the number of uses of the container and the destination of the container. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification