Information management apparatus dealing with waste and waste recycle planning supporting apparatus

• US 5,960,402 A
• Filed: 11/06/1997
• Issued: 09/28/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/1992
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kubota, Masayoshi, Embutsu, Ichiro, Baba, Kenji, Matsuzaki, Harumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Cosimano, Edward R.
• Application Number:
  US08/965,483
• Time in Patent Office: 691 Days
• Field of Search: 705/7, 705/10, 705/28, 705/128, 209/3.1, 209/3.3, 209/583, 283/70
• US Class Current: 705/308
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 2017/0089 Recycling systems, wherein the flow of products between producers, sellers and consumers includes at least a recycling step, e.g. the products being fed back to the sellers or to the producers for recycling purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2219/10 Environmental application, e.g. waste reduction, pollution control, compliance with environmental legislation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06315 Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/30 Administration of product recycling or disposal
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0205 Location or geographical consideration
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 30/82 Recycling of waste of electrical or electronic equipment [WEEE]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 90/00 Enabling technologies or technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions mitigation

Abstract

An information management apparatus dealing with waste in a waste recycling system comprises an information management device for managing information on waste of each depository, and a device of determining the waste collection method based on the information and the process volume of a recycling processor. The apparatus determines the waste collection method so that recycling products can be delivered stably.

Claims

1. An object, which will become waste and is suitable for recycling, comprising:

a recycling bar code label provided on a surface of said object, said recycling bar code label for use in recycling of said object.

2. An object as claimed in claim 1, wherein said recycling bar code label pertains to support for a recycling system.

3. An object as claimed in claim 1, wherein said recycling bar code label is a recycling-promoting bar code label.

4. An object as claimed in claim 1, wherein said recycling bar code label is more specifically an optically-readable label.

5. An object as claimed in claim 1, wherein said recycling bar code label includes information pertaining to at least one of a kind, type, manufacturing data and manufacturer of said object.

6. An object as claimed in claim 1, wherein said recycling bar code label is provided on the surface of said object at a time of a manufacturing of said object.

14. An object as claimed in claim 6, wherein said recycling bar code label is provided on the surface of said object by an original manufacturer of said object.

7. A recycling-promoting object comprising:

a recycling optically readable bar code label provided on a surface of said object, said label including information for recycling of said object.

8. A recycling-promoting object as claimed in claim 7, wherein said label includes information on at least one of a material and component of the object.

9. A recycling-promoting object as claimed in claim 7, wherein said recycling optically readable bar code label is provided on the surface of said object at a time of manufacturing of said object.

10. A recycling-promoting object as claimed in claim 9, wherein said recycling optically readable bar code label is provided on the surface of said object by an original manufacturer of said object.

11. A recycling-promoting object management method including the steps of:

attaching a recycling bar-code label on a surface of an object when the object is produced, said bar-code label including information necessary for recycling;

storing information pertaining to said recycling bar-code label; and

reading said recycling bar-code label on the object when the object is considered as potentially recyclable waste;

processing the object based upon the read said recycling bar-code label and the stored information.

12. A recycling-promoting object management method as claimed in claim 11, wherein a waste collecting route is determined in the processing step.

13. A recycling-promoting object management method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the information necessary to recycling includes at least one of a kind, type, manufacturing data and manufacturer of the object.