Intelligent Waste Management

Sensor-based fill level measurement for more economical and ecological waste management

Waste management is currently the subject of smart city projects in many places. Instead of following rigid schedules, smart cities use sensor technology and IT to decide flexibly and dynamically when and where which services are provided. In this way, the efficiency of winter services, passenger transport and other logistical processes can be optimised, for example.

In the waste disposal application area, fill level sensors are used that send a signal as soon as a container is full so that the empty vehicle can drive to the right place at the right time. This procedure is particularly worthwhile for large containers, e.g. clothing donation containers, of which only a small number are distributed over a large area and emptying is only rarely necessary. Signal-triggered emptying can save unnecessary journeys.

There are thousands of public bins for residual waste or organic waste, which are often located in the immediate vicinity of city centres and require daily emptying for hygiene reasons. The introduction of additional, signal-triggered emptying would be counterproductive here, as this would increase the personnel and time required, cause longer journeys and even increase pollutant emissions with lower efficiency.

Together with the city of Regensburg, an intelligent waste bin is therefore being established as part of a Smart City project, which regularly provides up-to-date measurements of fill level and battery charge via radio. A portal for waste management was designed and implemented as part of the project, which supports the city of Regensburg in optimising the existing scheduled routes. The portal helps with planning processes such as the selection of bin locations and the organisation of routes in terms of time and personnel. Route recommendations are based on metaheuristics, taking into account the current fill level of the bins, the maximum time the waste is stored and established routes.

By focusing on bins with particularly long routes alone, hundreds of kilometres can already be saved each month. During this time, more bins can be emptied with the same personnel and financial expenditure. Ultimately, more containers also encourage a greater willingness to separate waste. The approach therefore combines economic and ecological benefits.

In the project video Prof. Dr. Jan Dünnweber explains the functionality of the system.