2022 25th International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (ICCIT)
17-19 December 2022, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
Design and Implementation of a Smart Bin using
IOT for an Efficient Waste Management System
Nafisa Anjum Antora1, Md. Ashiqur Rahman1, Abdullah Al Mosharraf1, Mehrab Ibn Ehsan1, Md. Alve1 and
2022 25th International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (ICCIT) | 979-8-3503-4602-2/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ICCIT57492.2022.10055998
Mohammad Mamun Elahi2
1
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
2
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
United International University, United City, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Email- nantora173008@bseee.uiu.ac.bd, mrahman172016@bseee.uiu.ac.bd, anishan171086@bseee.uiu.ac.bd,
mehsan173018@bseee.uiu.ac.bd, malve173022@bseee.uiu.ac.bd, mmelahi@cse.uiu.ac.bd
Abstract— Waste management is a challenging task in this
modern era and different approaches are still being discovered
to make the separation of waste more efficient using the state-
of-the-art technologies like Internet of Things (IoT), Edge-cloud
integration, machine learning etc. In this work, we have
designed and implemented an IoT-based smart bin that will use
a machine learning algorithm to separate different types of
wastes and send the data to the cloud server. It will sort organic
and inorganic waste materials in an efficient manner using three
different collection boxes built in. The wastes will be scanned
through several sensors and image classification was used to
separate the wastes in the designated collection boxes using the
sensors. The sensor will also detect the level of the waste
collected in the boxes and inform the personnel of the waste
collection. The sensor will send a signal when it detects 70-80%
filled boxes, which will give them enough time to get to the
collection point. Each bin will have its own GPS tracking system
to locate its location and also to avoid the hassle of being stolen.
Although this smart bin will be battery powered, to make it eco-
friendlier and economical, solar power will be used to recharge
the battery. A working prototype has been developed as a proof-
of-concept and preliminary results prove the efficiency of the
proposed smart bin.
Keywords— Waste management system, Recycling, Raspberry
pi, Image processing, CNN, WasteNet.
I. INTRODUCTION
Waste management is an important area of research in this
modern era but introduction to technology and smart cities can
bring in different processes to make waste management
convenient [1][2]. Smart cities enhance lifestyles, along with
reducing the harm on the environment. The idea of smart cities
aims to reduce urban waste and to operate efficiently via the
modern technologies available to date.
By 2050, global waste is expected to grow up to 3.40
billion tons, which is more than double population growth
over the same period. Overall, there is a positive correlation
between waste generation and income level. Daily per capita
waste generation in high-income countries is projected to
increase by 19% by 2050, compared to low- and middle-
income countries where it is expected to increase by
approximately 40% or more. More than half of waste is
currently openly dumped, and the trajectories of waste growth
will have vast implications for the environment, health, and
prosperity, thus requiring urgent action. Lower-income
countries generally rely on open dumping; 93% of waste is
dumped in low-income countries and only 2% in high-income
countries [1].
979-8-3503-4602-2/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE
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In 2025, the daily waste generation in Bangladesh will be
around 47,064 tons. Dhaka alone generates 37% of the
county’s waste. This happens due to the poor waste
management system. Chief Waste Manager of Dhaka South
City Corporation Md. Bakhtiyar Ahmed said - “We have a
plan to produce gas, electricity and fertilizer from the waste,
then we can reduce waste and waste will be used as the raw
material.” According to the government, it is possible to
generate 60 MW of electricity from the amount of waste
generated daily in Dhaka alone [2].
The target of the proposed work is to build a cleaner city
all around the world by developing a smart waste management
system, which will also contribute to the regeneration of
energy. This project will help separate different types of waste
effectively using IoT.
Rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section II
discusses the background and related past and recent work.
Section III includes the detailed methodology of the proposed
system, the architecture and the development in the project.
Section IV discusses the implementation details. Section V
discusses the details. Lastly, Section VI summaries the project
and shades some future remarks.
II. RELATED WORK
In [3], authors have proposed and implemented a smart
garbage management system to provide an easy collection
system by providing direction. With the help of a mobile
application, the garbage collector can get alert when a bin is
full and collects the garbage in time. The designed smart bin
did not consider segregating different types of wastes and only
generates alerts when the bin is full. In [4], a project was
established using Arduino Mega along with various sensors
like IR sensors, a moisture sensor and a metal detector. In this
project, they tried separating the waste in 3 different
compartments. One compartment was to collect the metal and
the other two was used to separately collect the wet and dry
waste depending on its permittivity. Higher permittivity
means the waste is wet and it will be collected in the 2nd
compartment. If not, it will be collected in the 3rd
compartment. The compartments are placed on a rotating
plate; it rotates according to the type of waste detected through
the sensors. The placement of the bins for collection is
programmed using delay/time. NODEMCU is also used to
inform the filling of the bins and to help send information to
the collection office. The literature states, the smart bin is
functioning as per the simulation. But when implemented
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problems have been faced in identifying the wastes effectively
and proper calibration of the sensors were suggested.
Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is widely used to
classify images, especially low-level features such as edges
and curves and then builds up to more abstract concepts
through a series of convolutional layers. This feature allows it
to classify images precisely such as cardboard, glass, metal,
paper, plastic, or trash. A literature from 2019, states the
process of CNN and how it can be used to classify different
types of wastes [5][10]. Resnet34 CNN, a residual neural
network with 34 pre-trained layers on the ImageNet database
has been used [6]. Classification of images is better when the
CNN is pre-trained as it has already learned some visual
features and can transfer that information easily. It has been
stated that a 92.1% accuracy was achieved by the neural
network. The efficiency of the method was justified through
some demonstration as well. Although it was an effective way
of classification, they did not really separate the wastes in
different bins or different categories and they plan to work on
it in the future.
WasteNet, a waste classification model has also been used
very recently to separate wastes accurately. According to our
citing from the literature of 10th June, 2020, they managed to
train images and identify them accordingly and separate them
in designated boxes [8]. The training of the images and tuning
them is quite complex but freezing the initial layers of the
tuning and allowing the last layers with more information to
pass through gives the maximum output. Through this paper,
it can be learnt that a 97% accuracy can be achieved using this
process. Although the level of accuracy is huge, this project is
limited to inorganic waste only.
In [9], the authors have proposed an intelligent waste
management system by predicting the possibility of waste
things to monitor hazardous and nonhazardous waste by
sensor-based dustbins and effectively collect and predict the
waste. But the proposed method did not consider classifying
the waste based on its image and analyze it with machine
learning algorithms.
Using machine learning to differentiate among different
types of waste things to detect and classify waste materials is
an important feature of a smart bin as part of an intelligent
waste management system [11]. Considering both waste
segregation as well as machine learning to detect them is a
challenging task, which is missing in most of the above works.
III. PROPOSED SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
A smart bin will be a fundamental part of this project and
intake of wastes will be through this bin. This smart bin will
help sort organic and inorganic waste materials in an efficient
manner using the modern technologies available. There will
be 3 different collection boxes built in. One to collect organic
waste, second to collect metal waste and the third to collect
non-metal waste. The wastes will be scanned through several
sensors and if someone dumps something in the bin, the bin
will scan and separate it in the designated collection boxes
using the sensors. Sensors like sonar sensors will send data
when it detects 70-80% filled boxes, which will give them
enough time to get to the collection point. Each bin will have
its own GPS tracking system to locate its location as well.
Although this smart bin will be battery powered, to make it
eco-friendlier and economical, solar power will be used to
recharge the battery.
Authorized licensed use limited to: ULAKBIM UASL - Altinbas Universitesi. Downloaded on April 04,2023 at 17:40:58 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
The block diagram in Fig. 1 below shows an overview
of the proposed system architecture:
Fig. 1. Proposed system architecture
The interfacing will be combined with all the sensors,
modules and mechanisms with the Arduino Mega which will
execute commands sent from Raspberry Pi, the main
processing unit. A Raspberry Pi camera module v2 will be
connected to the Raspberry pi to collect real time images for
image classification. For this we used a pre-trained model
from the TensorFlow object detection model. TensorFlow
allows us to make custom datasets for image classification as
a result we choose this platform for training our model. As
TensorFlow itself is bulky and it cannot function properly in
Raspberry pi we are using TensorFlow Lite instead. Before
that we had to set a custom dataset for all the varieties of
waste that would be collected accordingly to its category and
after that the images had to be labeled and have been trained
using TensorFlow 2 detection model zoo’s SSD mobileNet
V2 FPNLite 320x320 pre-trained model.This specific model
has been used because of his fast detection property for
mobile devices like Raspberry pi and also it has a low
processing power. After the training with TensorFlow object
detection model we converted our custom trained model to
TensorFlow Lite for further use in Raspberry pi. After that
the trained model was executed through a python script to
evaluate it using Raspberry pi. We had up to 71% detection
level from our training and in future we want to broaden our
dataset for more accuracy in detection level.
The Arduino will execute commands in a sequential
manner where it will first check whether the waste is organic
or not using image classification for more accurate results. If
it is organic, then it will directly be sorted to the organic waste
container. IR sensors will be used to sense the intake of
wastes. A humidity sensor will also be used to measure the
humidity of the organic waste and separate it more precisely.
The waste will then be sorted to its distinct container using
the waste routing system which will be custom made using
motors. A conveyor belt will be made using the motors where
the waste will be dropped and the humidity sensor on the side
and after that the metal detector underneath will one by one
sort the waste. After sorting using a tilting mechanism (the
seesaw) the waste will be dropped into its designated boxes.
The seesaw will tilt towards the right if metal, tilts towards
the left if non-metal, or using servo motors it will open the
middle door to drop the organic into the middle collection
box. The sonar sensor x3 will detect the level of the waste
collected in the boxes and inform the personnel of the waste
collection. The sensor will send a signal when it detects 70%-
80% filled boxes, which will give them enough time to get to
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the collection point. Each bin will have its own GPS (Neo-
7MV2) tracking system for effective waste collection and
also to avoid the hassle of being stolen. 6V, 4.5Ah
rechargeable SUNCA lead acid battery would be used to
power the bin. To make the bin eco-friendly it will be solar
powered using a 9v solar panel connected to the power supply
to charge its batteries.

A central cloud based server will also be developed by

interfacing Raspberry Pi with MySQL which will generate a
table in real time letting the authority know the bin number,
location & threshold. This would be done using a Wi-Fi Fig. 3. Front View of the Structure
module (DP06) to make the waste unloading process more
smooth and efficient.
IV. IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS
Fig. 2 below gives a 3D representation of the Smart Bin
that would be used in this project. The figures give a top, side
and front view of the Smart Bin. From the representation we
can see that there is an opening for the intake of waste. When
the waste is sensed by the IR sensor the system will be awake
and the waste will fall on the conveyor belt. The waste will
be classified using the sensors and image processing and once
it is done with the help of the servo motor it will be deposited
into its designated box. The 3 boxes will be removable so
when it is 70% filled, the sonar sensor will detect it and the
information will be sent to the cloud system and the bin will
Fig. 4. Front View of the Structure
be tracked using its GPS for the smart bin to be emptied.

Fig. 2. 3D View of the Structure

A. Physical Prototype
Fig. 3 shows the front view of the physical prototype of
the smart bin and fig. 4 shows the side view of the bin from
which the intake of wastes will take place. We had to develop
a mechanical system which is complex engineering as we had
to combine a lot of things together keeping in mind the
position, measurements of where to install all the sensors for
better detection. The whole prototype is made from scratch.
The waste will be detected through the IR sensors of the
intake passage and which will turn on the entire system.
Underneath the belt there is a metal detector, on the side there
is a humidity sensor and the waste will be detected in a few
steps while on the conveyor belt which is driven by a motor
and it will finally be delivered into the funnel underneath
(Fig. 5). As soon as the detection is complete, using the tilting
mechanism (the seesaw) the waste will be dropped into its
designated boxes. The seesaw will tilt towards the right if
metal, tilts towards the left if non-metal, or using servo
motors it will open the middle door to drop the organic into
the collection box. Underneath the seesaw, there are 3 sonar
sensors attached to monitor the threshold of the bins to avoid
overflowing.
Fig. 5. The funnel and the seesaw
B. Methodology
Image classification: The interfacing will be combined
with all the sensors, modules and mechanisms with the
Arduino Mega which will execute commands sent from
Raspberry Pi, the main processing unit. A Raspberry Pi
camera module v2 will be connected to the Raspberry pi to
collect real time images for image classification as shown in
Fig. 6. For this we used a pre-trained model from the
TensorFlow object detection model. TensorFlow allows us to
make custom datasets for image classification as a result we
choose this platform for training our model. As TensorFlow
itself is bulky and it cannot function properly in Raspberry pi
we are using TensorFlow Lite instead. Before that we had to
set a custom dataset for all the varieties of waste that would
be collected accordingly to its category and after that the
images had to be labeled and have been trained using
TensorFlow 2 detection model zoo’s SSD mobileNet V2
FPNLite 320x320 pre-trained model. This specific model has

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been used because of its fast detection property for mobile
devices like Raspberry pi and also because it has a low
processing power.
Lite for further use in Raspberry pi. As shown in Fig. 7, the
trained model was executed through a python script to
evaluate it using Raspberry pi. We had up to 71% detection
level from our training and in future we want to broaden our
dataset for more accuracy in detection level.
We have trained our custom dataset with a pretrained
object detection model from TensorFlow object detection
model zoo and we have achieved a precision level up to 95%
with our custom dataset. In Fig. 8, we can see our
classification loss which is getting lower with increasing the
steps of training. Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 show the detection level
and live evaluation, respectively.

Fig. 6. Primary setup for image collection

Fig. 8. Classification loss of the custom dataset training

Fig. 9. Detection level in Tensor board

Fig. 7. Training with custom dataset Fig. 10. Live image detection evaluation

After the training with TensorFlow object detection

model we converted our custom trained model to TensorFlow

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 Cloud interfacing: The Arduino will execute
commands in a sequential manner where it will first check
whether the waste is organic or not using image classification
for more accurate results. If it is organic, then it will directly
be sorted to the organic waste container. IR sensors will be
used to sense the intake of wastes. A humidity sensor will
also be used to measure the humidity of the organic waste and
separate it more precisely. If it is inorganic, a metal detector
will check whether it’s metal or non-metal. The waste will
then be sorted to its distinct container using the waste routing
system which will be custom made using motors. A conveyor
belt will be made using the motors where the waste will be
dropped after sorting and a tilting mechanism will be made
using servo motors for the wastes to fall into the designated
bins.
Fig. 11. Raspberry Pi interface with mySQL
Fig. 12. Data table using MySQL
A central cloud-based server will also be developed by
interfacing Raspberry pi with MySQL which will generate a
table in real time letting the authority know the bin number,
location & threshold as shown in Fig. 11 & 12. This would
be done using a Wi-Fi module (DP06) to make the waste
unloading process smoother and more efficient. 6V, 4.5Ah
rechargeable SUNCA lead acid battery would be used to
power the bin. To make the bin eco-friendly it will be solar
powered using a 9v solar panel connected to the power supply
to charge its batteries.
The sonar sensor x3 will detect the level of the waste
collected in the boxes and inform the personnel of the waste
collection. The sensor will send a signal when it detects 70%-
80% filled boxes, which will give them enough time to get to
the collection point. Each bin will have its own GPS (Neo-
7MV2) tracking system for effective waste collection and
also to avoid the hassle of being stolen.
Authorized licensed use limited to: ULAKBIM UASL - Altinbas Universitesi. Downloaded on April 04,2023 at 17:40:58 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Sensor connection & communication system: In the
schematic above, we are using a humidity sensor, IR sensor,
metal detector, GPS module, servo motor, sonar sensor,
raspberry pi camera module, conveyor system, LED panel
(for illumination) etc. We will be connecting all the sensors
including the GPS module with the Arduino Mega via I2C
protocol. We will interface the Arduino and the raspberry pi
as a single processing unit so that the system can be more
robust. To send data over the cloud for monitoring we will be
using the built-in Wi-Fi or LAN of the Raspberry Pi. The
schematic diagram of the corresponding setup is shown in
Fig. 13.
Fig. 13. Schematic of sensor connection and Communication process
C. System Flow Chart
Fig. 14. System flow chart
From the system flowchart as shown in Fig. 14, there are
two separate portions of sensing, one is to detect the waste
level in the bins via sonar sensor and the other portion is for
sorting the waste. The sorting part begins with an IR sensor
at the intake of the smart bin where the system launches right
after any waste is dumped through the intake. After that the
waste goes through image classification and there it will be
detected as either Organic or Inorganic. If detected as
organic, then in the next stage by using a humidity sensor we
confirm it as organic. If detected as inorganic then it goes
through metal detector and gets confirmed if it's metal waste
or other kind of inorganic waste such as plastic. For the left
part of the flowchart, we constantly check whether the waste
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level is beyond 70% or not. If it crosses 70% then the system
sends a notification to the central monitoring system.
D. Attributes of complex engineering
Machine learning itself is a complex engineering
problem which will be used in this project for image
classification. Thousands of images have to be trained for
sorting the wastes accurately and effectively. This process is
quite time consuming and complex. Once the module is
trained properly it can give approximately 98% accuracy in
sorting. In our case, the dataset gave 90% accuracy but if we
can train more objects, we can increase the accuracy. Also,
the mechanical system we developed is complex engineering
as the entire system was accurately measured, planned and
implemented for all the sensors and the mechanism to work
accordingly.
V. PRILIMINARY RESULTS
We have successfully built a prototype and the entire
system showed promising results by separating metal non-
metal and Organic wastes in its distinct boxes. We separately
tested our image processing dataset and it showed 90%
accuracy as shown in Table I below.
TABLE I. WASTE DETECTION ACCURACY
We have tested 10 waste samples for every segment of our
targeted waste. From the table, we can see that detection
through sensors gave promising results for the separation of
metal and non-metal but for organic waste the accuracy was
not so high. Image classification test results were high with
respect to the humidity sensor detection for organic waste.
Therefore, image classification can improve the organic
waste detection and give higher accuracy. For data collection
of our cloud system, we have successfully interfaced
raspberry pi with MySQL and we have manually generated a
table for monitoring which can be accessed through the
Internet.
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORKS
A lot of the waste around the world is not recyclable due
to the lack of the separation techniques and the hassle of
sorting different types of wastes. Waste management is a very
complex issue and it needs to be addressed. Large quantities
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of recyclable waste are being dumped into the landfills each
day which leads to pollution and disrupts the ability to reuse
recyclable materials and regenerate energy. This smart bin
will help sort these waste and lead to a more efficient waste
management system for the future and help create job
opportunities in the waste management sector.
Although this smart bin showed positive results through
the sensors and the pre-trained model through TensorFlow
object detection accuracy up to 90%, in future we want to
broaden our dataset for more accuracy in detection level and
interface it with our entire system. We also want to set up a
complete cloud system using MySQL which would generate
a table in real time so that actions can be taken accordingly.
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