Waste management with the IoT

The municipality of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is to introduce the second phase of its Paper and Cardboard Waste Fractions project with Enevo and its Dutch partner, TWS. The project extension will double the number of monitored waste containers and increase the use of Enevo Smart Plan software for optimised collection route planning to 40% of the underground paper and card waste containers in the city.

The Enevo waste management solution brings together waste container monitoring, data analytics and fill-level forecasting, dynamic route planning and driver route guidance via in-cab tablet computers. The company’s wireless sensors monitor the fill level of the waste containers, transmitting the information to the company’s cloud servers.

The data is combined with historical project information to generate trends which the system analyses to generate the most efficient collection routes, based on fill level criteria, on a daily basis. These routes are directly communicated via the Enevo cloud service to provide that day’s collection route.

Initially deployed as a proof of concept to demonstrate the effectiveness of Enevo technology, Rotterdam went on to enlist the expertise of its waste collection team to optimise Enevo Smart Plan route planning software for use in the city. At the same time, Rotterdam set a target for Enevo to increase the efficiency of collections by 20% — a goal that was easily surpassed.

“The results of the pilot in Rotterdam shows conclusively that Enevo’s IoT technology and analytics can help uncover new levels of efficiency in the hands of a committed and expert team,” said Charbel Aoun, Enevo chief of sales and strategy. “Just as 60 other global cities have already found working in partnership with Enevo, Rotterdam has been able to do more with less.

“Not only is predictive waste management system an effective way to reduce the cost of waste handling, it can also help to incentivise re-use and recycling and build the circular economy. We are very pleased to be on that journey with the municipality of Rotterdam.”

“We are delighted to be increasing the use of this system,” said Joost van Maaren, head of Collection and Reuse of Waste at the municipality of Rotterdam. “The technology to monitor fill levels in waste containers is well understood; however, key to our requirements was a dynamic route planning system. Enevo offers one of the only systems that reliably offers both capabilities.

“This essential development is helping us to eliminate static collection routes and bring a focus on only emptying containers which need servicing. During the pilot our working group, together with Enevo and TWS, have developed a system which meets Rotterdam’s requirements to achieve a highly effective and efficient waste collection system.”

Phase two of the Paper and Cardboard collection and recycling project is anticipated to provide increased levels of data and en-route understanding for analysis, allowing well-defined criteria to develop the project further towards its goals.