Urban waste collection is expenditure on government budgets. The statistics state that today, urban populations produce around 4.6 Kilograms of solid waste per capita. To collect and manage this waste, the authorities require $300 per capita annually. Most of the high-income cities collect a part of this cost from their citizens as fees, which counts to around $170. The rest is generally compensated by the tax revenue collected by the local governments, creating a strain and uncollectible load for both on taxes and local government budgets.
Due to environmental concerns, developed countries tend to spend more on waste management processes. But, refuse or waste collection still seems to be managed using traditional methods and the adoption of technology to make it efficient is not fast enough. In this regard, a routine of picking up garbage would be as garbage trucks set off, take the predetermined route and stop by every dumpster/garbage container as they go. This scenario is almost the same either in the most developed countries.
The garbage produced in different areas in a city varies widely. So, the garbage cans and dumpsters throughout the city do not fill up at the same speed. This is even the same for the garbage containers in a different location in the same street. Nevertheless, cities allocate a huge amount of resources that are able to visit all the garbage containers and waste bins at the same frequency, at the same time.
Managing numerous garbage truck all over the city and selecting their route to pick every dumpster is neither efficient nor optimized in terms of budget, equipment utilization, labor force, fuel consumption, and time. The problem not only limits to monitory terms, but it is also a problem of service quality. Since the waste containers do not fill up at the same speed, either you end up picking half empty containers or the containers get overflown as the containers have to wait until next pickup schedule. Additionally, garbage trucks disrupt the traffic, causing more indirect inefficiencies for the city municipalities.
In order to reduce the cost of waste collection, we need to optimize the pick-up routes for garbage trucks. But the question is, how do you do that?
What if we tell you that you can know in real-time which trash bin is about to get full and ready to be picked. There will be no direct human interaction required with the trash bins, just a sensor which is mounted inside the trash bins will do the job. Following is a sonar sensor which is bundled with Intellia IoT Smart Waste Management Solution:
Intellia – MAXSONAR
The Intellia – MaxSonar-WR sensor line is very high precision, low-voltage, water resistance sensor solution for IoT applications. All of the sensors are rated with IP67 rating.
| Quick Specifications | |
| Operating Voltage | 2.7V to 5.5V |
| Current Draw | 2.3mA (peak ~49mA) at 3.3V, and 3.1mA (peak ~98mA) at 5V |
| Sensitivity | High acoustic |
| Distance Sensor | 30-cm to 5-meters or 50-cm to 10-meters based on model |
| Range Outputs | All range outputs are active simultaneously |
The Solution to Your Problems – Intellia IoT Smart Waste Management System
The Intellia waste management system comprises of Intellia Maxsonar fill level measurement sensor which is attached to the trash bin, measuring fill level; and a communication system that transfers this data to the Cloud. The fill level data is processed on the cloud and formed into meaningful information which is shown on the user screen (Intellia IoT App). Management can see the fill level of all the waste containers in the map on the dashboard. The software algorithms automatically setup the optimum pick-up routes.
The sensor that Intellia IoT Waste Management solution use measures the fill level based on the ultrasonic distance measurement technology. These sensors send location, temperature, and fill rate information to the users. Using the real-time data collected from the sensors, the managers can select an optimum pickup route for garbage trucks.
Also, the drivers can access the application on their mobile phone/tablets using the internet. Real-time GPS assistance directs them to the pre-decided route. As they go collecting the garbage from the containers, the management is also aware of the progress as the vehicle, as well as the garbage containers, are traced in real-time.
The management staff gets their own personalized administration panel over a computer/tablet which gives them a bird eye view over the entire operations.
Some of the same solution providers prefer to go with an alternative solution using image processing and camera as a passive sensor. But, the cost of those image processing cameras is higher as compared to the ultrasonic sensors, which leads to high solution implementation cost. Contact us to know the implementation cost for your city.
Business Benefits
In highly populated areas, a rapid waste generation usually leads to overflowing waste bins and ugly streets. Intellia Smart Waste Management System empowers waste collection staff to know fill-levels in real-time and get notified of waste overflows.
Here are the benefits of opting for Intellia Smart Waste Management System:
Reduction in Collection Cost
The solution reduces waste collection frequency dramatically, enabling you to save on fuel, labor, and fleet maintenance costs. It has been seen that the solution has reduced the operational cost of municipalities up to 80%.
No Missed Pickups
Using the solution, the managers, as well as the garbage truck drivers, can see which garbage containers are not picked up and needs to be picked. So, there will be no missed pickups, keeping the residents away from the disease which occurs due to bacteria, vermin and insects prosper from the garbage.
Reduced Overflows
One of the ill effects of overflowing garbage containers is air pollution, which causes lung diseases and numerous health problems as contaminants are absorbed from lungs into other parts of a human body. Another malicious effect is on the waste collection staff and it is the risk of picking up and handling overflowing garbage which can cause them infections or chronic diseases.
The solution takes care of this issue by allowing the waste collectors to keep track of every bin’s fill status and schedule the pickup on time.
Waste Generation Analysis
The solution does not limit to allowing the managers to set up the pickup routes. The solution also features Advanced Data Analytics through which the waste collection managers can know the future waste generation and can plan the resources accordingly.
CO2 Emission Reduction
The solution decreases the fuel consumption which ultimately reduces carbon emission by up to 70%. This is indeed a huge reduction both in terms of finance and environmental impact.
Click here to see the live demo of Intellia IoT product: https://www.biz4intellia.com/request-a-demo The solution is ready to be deployed within 4-6 weeks. Contact us to get a quote.
