Internet of Things takes waste management to the next level

Waste collection

The French start-up SigrenEa is reinventing waste collection services thanks to IoT with Wize Alliance technology.

At a territory scale, collecting waste is all about being “in the right place at the right time”. At SigrenEa, new solutions emerge to optimize the waste collecting process. Sensors are placed inside voluntary waste drop-off receptacles and are able to measure in real time their fill rate via ultrasounds and infra-red. Those sensors are configured depending on the type of collective waste containers (organic waste, paper, glass …), its volume and its configuration.

What does industrial IoT brings to waste collection?

Thanks to these sensors, waste collection and collection itineraries are optimized and reduces the number of trucks on the roads meaning less labor and lower CO2 emissions.

What does it represent today?

More than 7000 solutions have been deployed in France, around 350 are effective in Belgium and more than 200 in Italy. Pilots have been launched in Poland, Spain and Czech Republic.

What are the use of those collected data?

Those informations are analyzed, sometimes with other data such as traffic, weather forecast or collected from other connected utilities (water or gas consumption).

Waste bin access control

AllWize has developed a solution to connect bins to the Wize network: the Wize Waste Bin Access System. The connected bins monitor how much waste households are throwing and whether they respect the recycling policies of their area, the system is called “Pay as you throw“. Different technologies can be used for this such as RFID tags or by access control mechanisms but also now with Wize.

According to a European Union regulation, 55% of waste should be recycled by 2025, 60% by 2030 and 65% by 2035. This regulation is putting a lot of pressure on countries, cities and waste management companies to find effective solutions to incentivize citizens to sort their waste.

Air quality monitoring

AllWize has developed an inexpensive solution called the Wize Air Quality Monitor: a compact air quality stations to be installed across the city as well as a suite of advanced cloud models to map as accurately as possible the quality of the air. This connected system can help cities to validate, or not, pollution reduction mechanisms and policies. The solution comprises particule in suspension PM1, PM2.5, PM10 sensors; gas concentration NOx, SO2 and O3 sensors; temperature, pressure, humidity sensors and microphones. The solution is connected to a dashboard with configurable alarms and alerts.

Our cities’ air quality has drastically worsened in the past years and citizens are paying the price with their health. A first step towards a better management of our air is to know where, when and how much pollution there is in cities. Solutions already exist to monitor the air quality but are extremely costly.