Method and apparatus for monitoring waste removal and administration

A method for managing pickup of receptacles, the method comprising:

• providing a tag in the form of a passive radio frequency identification tag, the tag having a unique identifier associated with the tag, wherein the tag is affixed to a receptacle;
• providing a database external to the tag and comprising a plurality of unique identifiers and biographical information associated with a plurality of users;
• reading the unique identifier from the tag at a pickup location of the receptacle;
• sending the unique identifier associated with the tag to the database;
• correlating, using the database, the unique identifier associated with the tag with the biographical information associated with at least one user of the plurality of users to provide identification information;
• providing service status information, including an account status for the receptacle based upon identification information provided from the database;
• and
• in response to the status information indicating that the account status is not current, automatically precluding pickup of the receptacle by changing the capability of pickup equipment on a vehicle to prevent transfer of the receptacle from a first position at which the pickup equipment is temporarily retaining the receptacle to a second position at which the pickup equipment empties the receptacle, and
• in response to the status information indicating that the account status is current, automatically allowing pickup of the receptacle by changing the capability of the pickup equipment on the vehicle to cause the pickup equipment to transfer the receptacle from the first position to the second position.