A bin that says ‘thank you’ or ‘mm, tasty’ when you throw in rubbish — in Germany, a land that loves hi-tech gadgets, it was only a matter of time before the solar-powered, talking trash can came along.

　　Berlin city officials have tested a street bin for paper which, powered by solar energy, talks to its users.

　　Next year, some 20 of them will be installed at strategic locations around the capital.

　　Each can be individually programmed to speak in a different language, give off a throaty rumble or administer a short lesson on tidiness.

　　“It looks just like any other orange bin, except it’s equipped with a solar panel on its lid and has a sound mechanism,” said Bernd Mueller of the city’s refuse collection department.

　　The panel, which can work even in bad weather, powers the sound. At night, the bin is lit up by a neon light pointing the way to the opening, but there’s no message so people aren’t frightened by a noise in the dark, he added.

　　The prototype talking trash can was tested using a hidden camera to record people’s reaction. “It really surprised them,” Mueller said.

　　“Some people repeated the experience a second time, many of them smiled. On the whole the reaction was very positive.”

　　德国柏林的垃圾桶会说“谢谢你”

　　在德国柏林街头，

　　人们将发现扔垃圾会是一种乐趣，因为当你把垃圾扔到垃圾桶里时，它会跟你说：“谢谢”、“嗯，味道好极了”之类的话。

　　柏林市的有关官员近日已经在街上对这种太阳能垃圾桶进行测试，预计明年，柏林就会装上20个这种垃圾桶了。每一个智能垃圾桶都能说几种语言。据当地官员称，到目前为止，还没有人因为这个垃圾桶会说话而吓着。在试验期间，工作人员还在垃圾桶后安装了摄像头，拍下途人的反应，结果发现，人们确实吓了一跳，不少人还多扔一次垃圾，微笑着听它的说话。