DIGITAL ASSESSMENT-02

FALL SEMESTER 2021-22

COURSE: SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
COURSE CODE: CLE2020
SLOT: D1
SUBMITTED TO: MAHINDRAKAR AMIT BABURAO - SCE
SUBMITTED BY: SAGAR KUMAR DAS
REG NO: 18BCLO275

Q. Government of India has proposed 100 smart cities. One of the aspects of
smart cities is Solid waste management. It is important to handle our waste
in a smarter way.
Propose your ideas for Solid waste management in smart cities, so that we
have clean and litter free cities.
Ans:
A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of
electronic methods, voice activation methods and sensors to collect specific data.
Information gained from that data are used to manage assets, resources and
services efficiently; in return, that data is used to improve the operations across
the city.
With increasing populations, changing policy requirements, new sustainability and
recycling goals and improved technology departments, municipalities across the
globe are joining the “smart cities” movement to become more efficient in
managing solid waste.
The idea of smart cities was first developed by technology giant IBM, which created
a worldwide initiative called Smarter Cities aimed at helping cities and companies
leverage data to improve operational performance in many sectors, including
waste management. And now, with the concept of a circular economy gaining
more traction, the trend of smart cities is on the rise.Los Angeles-based Ecube
Labs Co., for example, is using solar-powered waste compacting bins, data
analytics and a resource management platform to help cities optimize the
efficiency of their waste collection value chains. And Rubicon Global, an
international cloud-based, full-service waste and recycling company focused on
sustainability, is utilizing hauling technology, consumer-facing technology and
sustainability technology to help cities and companies improve their operations.

At WasteExpo in May, Jim McKay, general manager of solid waste management

services for the City of Toronto; Susan Fife-Ferris, director of solid waste planning
and program management for Seattle Public Utilities; and Phil Bresee, manager,
environmental management office, department of environmental services for the
Solid Waste Solid Waste Bureau of Arlington, Va., will discuss how their smart
cities are managing solid waste during the "Smart Cities with a Solid (Waste)
Plan" spotlight session. Waste360 recently spoke with the session speakers to gain
some insights on what to expect.
Smart City technology evolved together with the developments in wireless sensor
networks (WSN) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Smart cities essentially combine
the use of ICT to provide services for better living conditions inside cities. It is a
diverse topic of discussion with several application areas as shown in Figure 1. This
article focuses on the Smart Waste Management application
The current state of technology in the field of smart waste management involves
the use of sensors that measure the fill level of the trash bin. Measured data is
sent to the Cloud for further processing and analysis. By exploiting this data, trash
collection can be planned as well as truck routes can be optimized. Despite this
solution being an improvement of the conventional (sensorless) solution, it suffers
from major drawbacks, poor sensor performance, and lack of any contribution to
the trash sorting at the recycling facility. The solution presented in this article
focuses on the mitigation of these disadvantages by the implementation of RFID
based trash identification system and additional weight sensor for improved fill
level estimation.

Let’s first define the probLem;

Problem Definition
The current process of waste management starts with the waste being created by
people in the cities and disposed in trash bins near its creation point. The disposed
trash is collected by municipality or private company trucks at the predefined
times and transferred to temporary collection centers. 8The trash at the
collection centers is then sent for recycling.

This process in current city setting solves the waste problem partially while it
creates other problems such as;

• Some trash bins are overfilled while others are underfilled by the trash
collection time,

• overfilled trash bins create unhygienic conditions,

• unoptimized truck routes result in excessive fuel usage and

environmental pollution and

• all collected trash is combined which complicates sorting at the

recycling facility.

Some of these problems can be mitigated by implementing smart waste

management systems.
Problem mitigation through smart waste management
The waste management services take care of a healthy environment allowing
optimization of the utilities and prevent overloading the carrier for waste disposal.
Smart waste management also contributes to the overall waste recycling
efficiency and provides the route optimization opportunity for utilities to reduce
traffic and fuel use.

An example of a modern smart waste management system would include; a sensor

attached to the trash bin that measures fill level; and a communication system that
transfers this data to Cloud. Data is processed in the Cloud, thus, the route of
collection trucks is optimized.

Smart waste management companies have recently developed solutions based on

ultrasonic distance measurement. Some companies prefer to approach the
problem with an alternative solution using image processing and camera as a
passive sensor. However, the majority of these solutions use ultrasonic sensor for
measurement of the distance.

Ultrasonic sensors use a well-known sonar technique to perform measurement of

the distance between the sensor and an obstacle. The sensor consists of an
emitter that sends the sound pulse and a receiver that detects that pulse upon its
reflection from an object. The distance to an object can be determined by
measuring the time between emitting and receiving a pulse since the speed of
sound is known. As stated in Table 1, besides the determination of the fill level by
implementing different kinds of sensors additional data may be obtained. These
sensors monitor other parameters related to the status of the container such as
position using GPS or motion sensors to register container collections, movement
to detect possible vandalism
Disadvantages of Current Solutions
The solutions available on the market suffer from two major disadvantages.

The first disadvantage is related to the usage of the ultrasonic sensor. Trash is
non-uniformly distributed inside the container. Simple distance measurement
leads to false fill level measurement. Although several software procedures were
proposed to increase the accuracy of this sensor, unfortunately, results remain
poor. By using multiple sensors, the fill level can be determined more precisely,
however, the cost of the system also increases. So, this is usually not a
commercially preferred solution.

The second disadvantage of the current solution is that it is partial and incomplete.
The waste management cycle starts with the garbage being produced, then it gets
disposed at the local trash bins or other garbage collection points. Afterward, it is
being collected by a garbage collecting company and brought to garbage depot
where it is being sorted and sent for recycling, destruction (burning), or storage.
Complete waste management should be involved in trash bin fill level

measurement, route optimization of the trucks, and contribution to the recycling

process by easing out the sorting process, which is currently manual and slow.
Current smart waste management services do not offer any solution with regard
to the recycling process.

Ideally, both of these disadvantages could be resolved…

Proposed Improvement

Recycling trash is a complex task. Obstacles that may be encountered in the

implementation of this task are as follows;

• recyclables are distributed throughout the city (municipality) and

collection of recyclables and other materials is complicated;
 • the city trash and recyclable materials are generated not only in every
home, building and production facilities but also in public spaces
(streets, parks);

• each recyclable has a different strategy for the end of life management.

Recycling of used products could be simpler and cheaper through the

establishment of a system for automated management of product lifecycle,
whereby, the technical information about the product must be incorporated in
itself during production. Information such as the materials of which the product is
made, ways to recycle, repair, or installation of its elements must be contained in
the product itself. Thus, organizations responsible for waste collection could
automatically search for the contents of the container or special items and
organize collection service according to this information. Should this happen, there
would be a huge reduction in the quantity of municipal solid waste, which would
make waste management activities become cost-effective for both the city and
citizens.

Product management at the end of life-cycle could become widespread thanks to

the technological improvements in the identification and the use of the Internet.
There are several innovations for the automatic identification of products, among
which RFID tags have shown great potential in applications such as the
management of the products [7]. Waste management is another promising
application area of RFID technology.

Systems for the measurement of the trash bin fill level discussed above must be
augmented with the implementation of RFID technology. The augmented system
must be realized so that there will be the exchange of information between cloud
(dispatcher center) and trucks for waste disposal or directly for the trash bins
where the information from each bin would be conveyed to the cloud and the
product life cycle management could be realized and recycling process could be
eased.

At the time of trash disposal, the material to be recycled could be identified using
RFID technology. Data obtained in this way can be passed through the cloud to
retailers of secondary raw materials, as well as other interested parties, such as
Internet services for the sale of products, or institutions responsible for
hazardous waste. In this way, it is possible for waste material to be recycled or
reused before the garbage collection services pick it up. Even if the waste is
collected by municipality services, sorting, storing, and recycling would be eased
up at the recycling facilities.

RFID technology can increase the rate of recycling of different types of waste of
components such as batteries, electronic waste, hazardous substances, and
valuable recyclables. Sorting different types of batteries could be cheaper and
easier with the use of an RFID tag that is placed on the battery. RFID tags placed on
electronic equipment could contain information about the possibility of dismantling,
the content and type of constituent elements, the method of selection of
components in dismantling and recycling possibilities of individual elements of
electronic devices (e.g. white goods where the housing element that can be
reused).

Next to the RFID, weight sensors should be added to the trash bin to improve the
fill level measurement. By fusion of sensory information (ultrasonic + weight), the
classification of trash could be done and overall fill level estimation would be
improved.

As mentioned earlier, municipalities have many needs in efficient and proper

waste management for becoming a sustainable and smart city. That’s why we
provide you with some of the needs and efficient solutions for municipal waste
management.
Needs of Smart cities in waste management
• To start with, municipalities have waste containers around all over the city.

And municipalities need to track their waste containers. At that point they
need a practical and effective solution for their waste containers’ tracking.
• The second need of municipalities is that municipalities have waste trucks

and drivers of that waste trucks. The municipalities need to control that
their waste trucks proceed in the most efficient route possible.
• Another need of municipalities in waste management is that they need to

cooperate with their citizens in waste management processes. And it is not

very easy to cooperate with citizens. Due to that, municipalities need an
efficient method of cooperating with their citizens.
• The responsive person of the waste management in a municipality needs to

control waste management processes from a practical point of view. So,

all-in-one technology will be very beneficial for the municipalities.
At that point there are efficient and practical waste management solutions for
municipalities that aim to become a smart city!

Efficient solutions for Smart city waste management

• As mentioned above the first need of municipalities is the efficient tracking

of their waste containers. The efficient and practical solution for this need
is asset management. With the help of smart sensors that are located in
smart waste bins you can easily track your waste containers. Smart
sensors that are empowered with IoT technology will provide you the real-
time information of your assets.
For example, you can control at any time of the day the current situation of your
waste containers. Moreover, in the case of unwanted incidence or unexpected
temperature rise in your waste containers, smart sensors will notify you with the
real-time data, so that you can prevent unwanted issues. For further information
about the smart bins you should definitely check out our ultimate guide to smart
bins!
• Secondly, the smart cities have waste trucks that need to be operating in

the most efficient route. That’s why fleet management is the most practical
and effective solution in waste management. With fleet management
software you can easily control your waste trucks.

Furthermore, everyday with the benefits of IoT technology smart sensors will
inform your waste truck driver’s about which waste containers need to be
emptied and what the most optimized route is. Thanks to the advantages of fleet
management you will save time and money in your waste management processes.
• Another solution for smart cities is citizen management. You can easily

cooperate with your citizens in waste management processes. With waste

management apps in mobile devices such as Citizen App you can
communicate and work together with your citizens for a cleaner city and a
greener future. Your smart city will utilize high-level service quality that is
empowered by citizen management.
• Last but not least, the authorities in smart cities that are responsible for

waste management need to track all the waste management processes

practically. So, it would be most beneficial for them to have an all-in-one
platform that they can track every single process of their waste
management with every detail. Yes, thanks to the latest technology there is
one all-in-one technology provided by Evreka that can easily manage their
waste management operations.
 Importance of Zero Waste for Smart Cities
One last important point in smart city waste management is Zero Waste. Today,
with increasing awareness on the topic of waste management recycling and
related to that, Zero Waste has become prominent. In smart cities huge amounts
of waste is generated every single day, so recycling is inevitable.
Moreover, in the smart cities recycling takes significant place, authorities raise
awareness of their citizens on the issue of Zero Waste and recycling. Thanks to
smart city recycling and Zero Waste activities we can reuse waste and produce
materials. Recycling and Zero Waste is very significant considering the reuse of
waste and producing new materials without using any new method.

Smart Cities Improving Waste Management

Here are 5 smart cities in the world that are using digital technology to optimize their
waste management systems. These cities are leading the charge at a time in human
history when sustainability and what we do with our waste now – and in the future –
could be the difference between climate catastrophe or redemption.
Helsinki, Finland: Underground Waste Management
Helsinki, known fondly as the sustainability capital of Finland, has one of the world’s most
advanced underground waste management systems. It’s called the Envac automated waste
collection system and uses a series of pneumatic tubes hidden underground to transport
recycling and waste to a central processing facilities.
This technology uses accessible collection bins or waste inlets at designated areas.
Paper, mixed, and organic waste are collected here and monitored daily by a waste
station. When the station receives data that the tanks are full, the waste is
transported to the facility. No employees are needed for the collection or transport of
the waste itself, which means less fuel and noise pollution overall.
There are currently 800 waste collection points in Jätkäsaari, Helsinki, transporting 19
tons of waste a day along 6.2 miles of pipeline. Similar systems are showing up in
cities all over the world, which is good news for the environment. Reduced CO2
emissions, cost savings, reduced odors, and increased recycling rates make this
system a winner.
Nitra, Slovakia: Waste Collection Optimization
In Nitra, Slovakia it’s the norm to use Internet of Things technology to improve waste
disposal efficiency and collections. One company called Sensoneo Analytics has a
smart process for waste management, which includes placing sensors on garbage
collection bins to monitor which of them are full or not. This integrates with their
analytics software to help automate and optimize when and how waste is collected in
the city. The result is that waste collection trucks use the fastest routes, only when
necessary – which saves time, resources and money – not to mention the positive
environmental impact. Decreased emissions from less traffic, less noise pollution and
street clutter are all part of the system. Using reliable real-time data, Nitra is able to
optimize every aspect of their waste collection process. Systems like this have real
value for municipalities who can’t afford underground pipelines, or who don’t have the
right conditions underground for pneumatic systems.
San Francisco, California: Food Waste Composting
In San Francisco, a mandatory food waste composting law was put into place, along
with a goal for the city to achieve zero waste by 2020 – with evolving sorting tech to
back it up. Landfills are a finite resource, and the city understood that closed-loop
recycling system will ultimately fulfill their need for a healthier, cleaner, and smarter
city. A big part of that success would boil down to advances in IoT technology, data
analysis, and making the city smarter. The right partnerships were crucial!
San Francisco managed to process their waste using their partner’s optical sorting
machines, which use sensors to help separate compostable food and other recyclable
materials from the stream. A highly-trained team works with the data and watches as
the machines sort the recyclable waste. The sorting process minimizes energy use,
maximizes yield and recovery, and allows this city to fertilize its legendary wine valley
with its own food waste.
Stockholm, Sweden: Waste-to-Energy Sites
In the middle of Stockholm in Sweden, lies the largest biofuel plant in the country – and
it runs on waste. This smart city uses collected sawmill industry waste to create a
valuable energy commodity called biofuel, which can power the city itself. The waste-
to-energy model is a smart city initiative that has been implemented all over the
world, by cities and by corporations.
Locally, the most well-known is the biofuel process as Disney Land, where park waste
is used to power the rides and hotels, and helps Disney lower costs, save money and
reduce carbon emissions. The process works through anaerobic digestion,
encouraging the release of methane which is collected and converted into power for
use. Stockholm is a leader in clean energy and we hope to see more biogas facilities
springing up in the US in future.
It’s important that smart cities like these continue to push the boundaries of what can
be done with waste. From recycling network innovation to sensor technology and
smart sorting processes – we are confident that digital technology will help reshape
how we use waste in our cities.

Conclusion
In the system advocated above, the fusion of sensors, identification technology, and
internet connectivity will lead to a uniquely smart disposal trash bin. Together with the
cloud, these trash bins would become irreplaceable elements in the waste
management cycle where the collection, transportation, storage, and recycling of
waste could be automated. The use of RFID technology in waste collection services not
only increases the efficiency of waste management through automation but also
increases environmental responsibility which is one of the pillars of the Smart City.