Smart Waste

As municipalities strive to improve city services despite budgetary constraints, technologies like smart waste programs can help to increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve quality of life for residents.

Like all smart city initiatives, a smart waste management system uses data produced by Internet of Things (IoT) technology to transform a basic city service. smart city waste management programs are powered by sensors on trash and recycling containers that provide a wealth of information for waste management departments, including:

• When containers are almost full and need to be emptied.
• The location of every trash and recycling bin.
• The presence of noxious odors or high temperatures inside a bin, which should receive immediate attention.
• When a bin has been tipped over.
• What kind of materials are present inside a container.

The advantages of a smart waste system

By providing a public works department this kind of detailed visibility into every trash and recycling container in the city, smart waste management programs enable municipal waste management departments to:

• Improve efficiency of waste collection by only sending crews out to containers that need attention. Traditional collection services visit every bin at regular intervals whether they need emptying or not, increasing labor costs as well as the cost of fuel and vehicle maintenance. Smart waste technology enables city crews to work in a far more targeted way.
• Improve livability of public spaces. By tending to trash and recycling containers before they become foul-smelling or overrun with refuse, smart waste technologies help to keep public spaces clean, beautiful and free of infestations and health risks.
• Increase economic vitality in neighborhoods. Issues with trash and recycling inevitably drive pedestrians away from problem areas. By proactively managing city smart waste containers, public works departments help to keep business districts vital and full of potential shoppers.
• Help to minimize congestion and reduce pollutants. Because they make frequent stops, trash and recycling vehicles tend to cause traffic tie-ups. Smart waste programs enable crews to make fewer trips, minimizing congestion as well as vehicle emissions.
• Manage vendors more easily. Most trash and recycling operations are a combination of public teams and private vendors. With smart waste management using IoT sensors, public works managers have greater visibility into the need for services and the performance of third-party vendors.

The infrastructure required for smart waste programs

In addition to the sensors that provide real-time data on the status of trash and recycling containers, smart waste programs also require a high-performance network that can quickly and flawlessly transmit data to the cloud. Data analytics platforms are also required to aggregate and analyze information, converting mountains of raw data into actionable intelligence for use by crews and city planners.

With more than 840,000 miles of fiber network infrastructure in place throughout the U.S., Spectrum Enterprise is an ideal partner for municipalities adopting smart waste management solutions and other smart technologies. Spectrum provides the smart city infrastructure that all smart technology requires, with connection speeds up to 100 Gbps on a two-way, fully interactive digital network.

To meet the connectivity needs of a smart city waste management program, Spectrum also provides thousands of WiFi hotspots that will soon incorporate 5G and 802.11ax technology for wireless connection speeds up to 1 Gbps. To connect smart waste sensors that require a cellular connection, Spectrum provides access to Spectrum Mobile, one of the nation’s largest LTE cellular networks. And to enable residents and businesses to participate in all smart city programs, Spectrum provides gigabit connections to homes and businesses throughout its service area.

Learn more about Spectrum Smart Cities at www.spectrumsmartcities.com.