Every year the world generates over 2 billion metric tons of municipal solid waste. The World Bank estimates that by 2050 annual waste generation will increase by 70 percent—to 3.4 billion metric tons. This is particularly worrying for City managers, who need to ensure effective waste collection and treatment to preserve public health and overall livability.
Most Cities used to have a reactive approach in dealing with waste management, thus investing only in light of emergency situations, or when pushed by regulatory compliance issues. Today they are turning proactive and looking at Smart Waste not as an expenditure item, but as an opportunity to improve quality of urban life.
Our flagship platform PE Smart Urban Network is being extended to include a Smart Waste application for city and utility managers to enhance municipal solid waste collection. Smart sensors will enable data collection from connected bins, making them available on the integrated Smart CMS to monitor field devices and feed evidence-based decisions.
Our solution makes it possible to optimize waste truck routes upon parameters like bin status, filling levels, etc. This increases service quality and efficiency, and generates further savings on fuel expenses and overall maintenance costs. Moreover, garbage-related data could also feed customized applications and be monetized: think for instance of the possibility of accurately tracking waste input and introducing discounted fees to reward recycling and correct waste separation.
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