Too often bins are collected when they are not yet full. Collecting bins too early results not only in an additional cost for human labour and fuel consumption, but having garbage trucks on the streets unnecessarily causes excessive vehicle emissions and air pollution. Additionally, unnecessary driving time for garbage trucks increases traffic congestion in cities and noise pollution, disrupting citizens in the area.
Instead, when the fill rate of a bin is monitored, the focus can be shifted to emptying bins that we are sure are reaching their capacity. Smart litter bin sensors are installed inside bins which detect how full the bin is and send this data to a platform. Based on the data, waste haulers can dispatch job tasks to collect the bins only when they’re full.
Local authorities throughout the UK have jumped on the trend, with Derby City Council reporting encouraging results from their latest installation. Derby City Council’s Streetpride have installed smart litter bin sensors into 200 ‘hot spot’ bins around the city. So far, the installation has secured a reduction in overflowing bin complaints and a 53% decrease in visits to litter bins by eliminating unnecessary trips.
Here are five staggering advantages of a smart litter bins:
- 1. Implement Data-Driven Collection Routes
Waste collectors often send garbage trucks to each litter bin in the city to check fill levels, which is very exhausting and hectic work, often for little benefit. Smart bins provide information about litter bins fill levels using IoT. This data is used to optimise routes for waste collectors instead of wandering the road to check each bin.
- 2. Save Time & Reduce Costs
When garbage trucks only go to the filled containers, a considerable amount of time and money can be saved. The data collected from the smart litter bin sensors provides insight into exactly when bins should be collected, reducing costs for wages, fuel and vehicle maintenance.
- 3. Reduce Co2 Emissions & Traffic Congestion
Smart litter bins reduce vehicle emissions by eliminating the need to drive to litter bins that are far from full. This also leads to reduced traffic congestion on the streets and less noise pollution in cities.
- 4. Reduce Overflowing Bin Complaints
Overflowing bins are smelly, unsightly and an ideal breeding ground for vermin. It’s no surprise that overflowing bins can result in complaints from citizens! Smart bins help in maintaining a rubbish-free environment for the public. In this way, a lot of phone calls from dissatisfied citizens are avoided.
- 5. Understand Waste Generation Patterns
Another benefit that comes with using smart bin sensors is the software platform behind the devices, which tracks the waste generation of bins. Software such as WasteHero’s Asset Management enables users to view fill-level graphs and 3D topology maps for all containers equipped with sensors, enabling local authorities to better understand waste generation patterns over time so they can organise resources accordingly.
The use of smart bins breaks the patterns of high cost and inefficiency, ultimately improving the overall performance of waste management operations.
St. Moritz Case Study
If you want to learn more about how smart bins can help your council, be sure to check out the case of St. Moritz, a luxury alpine resort town in Switzerland’s Engadin Valley.
Thanks to the use of the smart bin sensors and asset management software, St. Moritz can now implement the most efficient schedule to collect public waste bins in their more remote areas. Collection frequency has been reduced by 40%, helping them to reduce fuel consumption, labour costs and CO2 emissions, as well as improve the utilisation of fleet resources.
