Envision a distasteful trip to the curb to take out the trash as a pleasant—and profitable—stroll.

Some juiceless batteries—those are good for a few cents. An old keyboard might fetch a couple of bucks. Even that empty box of Pop-Tarts might be worth something.

No need to sort these discards: the trash can has already done it, inventorying all contents and calculating the worth of this waste. Next month’s garbage bill could be accompanied by a check.

“Recycling and consumer waste are still managed with 1950s technology,” says Valerie Thomas, Anderson Interface Associate Professor at Georgia Tech’s School of Industrial and Systems Engineering. “Of course it can’t keep up. The flow of products out of the household needs to be managed with at least as much intelligence as the flow of products into the household. It’s sort of obvious.”

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