public class DeathNotificationObject {
    private static ReferenceQueue<DeathNotificationObject>
            refQueue = new ReferenceQueue<DeathNotificationObject>();

    static {
        Thread deathThread = new Thread("Death notification") {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                try {
                    while (true) {
                        refQueue.remove();
                        System.out.println("I'm dying!");
                    }
                } catch (Throwable t) {
                    t.printStackTrace();
                }
            }
        };
        deathThread.setDaemon(true);
        deathThread.start();
    }

    public DeathNotificationObject() {
        System.out.println("I'm born.");
        new PhantomReference<DeathNotificationObject>(this, refQueue);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        for (int i = 0 ; i < 10 ; i++) {
            new DeathNotificationObject();
        }
        try {
            System.gc();
            Thread.sleep(3000);
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

I'm born.
I'm born.
I'm born.
I'm born.
I'm born.
I'm born.
I'm born.
I'm born.
I'm born.
I'm born.

public class ElementCachedImage {
    private static Map<PhantomReference<ElementCachedImage>, File>
            refMap = new HashMap<PhantomReference<ElementCachedImage>, File>();
    private static ReferenceQueue<ElementCachedImage>
            refQue = new ReferenceQueue<ElementCachedImage>();

    static {
        Thread cleanUpThread = new Thread("Image Temporary Files cleanup") {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                try {
                    while (true) {
                        Reference<? extends ElementCachedImage> phanRef =
                                refQue.remove();
                        File f = refMap.remove(phanRef);
                        Calendar c = Calendar.getInstance();
                        c.setTimeInMillis(f.lastModified());
                        _log.debug("Deleting unused file: " + f + " created at " + c.getTime());
                        f.delete();
                    }
                } catch (Throwable t) {
                    _log.error(t);
                }
            }
        };
        cleanUpThread.setDaemon(true);
        cleanUpThread.start();
    }

    ImageWrapper img = null;

    private static Logger _log = Logger.getLogger(ElementCachedImage.class);

    public boolean copyToFile(File dest) {
        try {
            FileUtils.copyFile(img.getFile(), dest);
        } catch (IOException e) {
            _log.error(e);
            return false;
        }
        return true;
    }

    public ElementCachedImage(BufferedImage bi) {
        if (bi == null) throw new NullPointerException();
        img = new ImageWrapper(bi);
        PhantomReference<ElementCachedImage> pref =
                new PhantomReference<ElementCachedImage>(this, refQue);
        refMap.put(pref, img.getFile());

        new Thread("Save image to file") {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                synchronized(ElementCachedImage.this) {
                    if (img != null) {
                        img.saveToFile();
                        img.getFile().deleteOnExit();
                    }
                }
            }
        }.start();
    }
}

import java.lang.ref.PhantomReference;
import java.lang.ref.Reference;
import java.lang.ref.ReferenceQueue;
import java.util.HashSet;
import java.util.Set;

public class DeathNotificationObject {
    private static ReferenceQueue<DeathNotificationObject> refQueue = new ReferenceQueue<DeathNotificationObject>();
    private static Set<Reference<DeathNotificationObject>> refs = new HashSet<>();

    static {
        Thread deathThread = new Thread("Death notification") {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                try {
                    while (true) {
                        Reference<? extends DeathNotificationObject> ref = refQueue.remove();
                        refs.remove(ref);
                        System.out.println("I'm dying!");
                    }
                } catch (Throwable t) {
                    t.printStackTrace();
                }
            }
        };
        deathThread.setDaemon(true);
        deathThread.start();
    }

    public DeathNotificationObject() {
        System.out.println("I'm born.");
        PhantomReference<DeathNotificationObject> ref = new PhantomReference<DeathNotificationObject>(this, refQueue);
        refs.add(ref);
    }

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        for (int i = 0 ; i < 10 ; i++) {
            new DeathNotificationObject();
        }
        try {
            System.gc();
            Thread.sleep(3000);
        } catch (InterruptedException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

public DeathNotificationObject() {
    System.out.println("I'm born.");
    PhantomReference<DeathNotificationObject> ref = new PhantomReference<DeathNotificationObject>(this, refQueue);
    ref.enqueue();
}

public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {

    for (int i = 0 ; i < 5 ; i++) {
        DeathNotificationObject item = new DeathNotificationObject();

        System.out.println("working with item "+item);
        Thread.sleep(1000);
        System.out.println("stopped working with item "+item);
        // simulate release item
        item = null;
    }

    try {
        System.gc();
        Thread.sleep(3000);
    } catch (InterruptedException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

I'm born.
I'm dying!
working with item DeathNotificationObject@6908b095
stopped working with item DeathNotificationObject@6908b095