IoT-Enabled Solid Waste Management in Smart Cities

S Vishnu,S Srinivasan,Xiaozhe Fan,Theodoros Anagnostopoulos,S R Jino Ramson,Samson Senith,Adnan M Abu-Mahfouz,A Alfred Kirubaraj

doi:10.3390/smartcities4030053

Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm plays a vital role for improving smart city applications by tracking and managing city processes in real-time. One of the most significant issues associated with smart city applications is solid waste management, which has a negative impact on our society’s health and the environment. The traditional waste management process begins with waste created by city residents and disposed of in garbage bins at the source. Municipal department trucks collect garbage and move it to recycling centers on a fixed schedule. Municipalities and waste management companies fail to keep up with outdoor containers, making it impossible to determine when to clean them or when they are full. This work proposes an IoT-enabled solid waste management system for smart cities to overcome the limitations of the traditional waste management systems. The proposed architecture consists of two types of end sensor nodes: PBLMU (Public Bin Level Monitoring Unit) and HBLMU (Home Bin Level Monitoring Unit), which are used to track bins in public and residential areas, respectively. The PBLMUs and HBLMUs measure the unfilled level of the trash bin and its location data, process it, and transmit it to a central monitoring station for storage and analysis. An intelligent Graphical User Interface (GUI) enables the waste collection authority to view and evaluate the unfilled status of each trash bin. To validate the proposed system architecture, the following significant experiments were conducted: (a) Eight trash bins were equipped with PBLMUs and connected to a LoRaWAN network and another eight trash bins were equipped with HBLMUs and connected to a Wi-Fi network. The trash bins were filled with wastes at different levels and the corresponding unfilled levels of every trash bin were monitored through the intelligent GUI. (b) An experimental setup was arranged to measure the sleep current and active current contributions of a PBLMU to estimate its average current consumption. (c) The life expectancy of a PBLMU was estimated as approximately 70 days under hypothetical conditions.

Highlights

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept that refers to the ever-expanding network of internet-connected devices that are currently in use all over the world
Significant experiments were conducted to validate the feasibility of the developed IoT-enabled solid waste management system
The life expectancy of a Public Bin Level Monitoring Unit (PBLMU) was estimated under hypothetical conditions

Summary

Introduction

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept that refers to the ever-expanding network of internet-connected devices that are currently in use all over the world. Despite the current Covid-19 pandemic, the Internet of Things industry is growing, and it is estimated that around 30 billion IoT connections will exist by the end of 2025 [1]. Cloud computing, big data, lightweight communication protocols, open-source server programs, and web development tools are the enabling technologies that accelerate the development and deployment of domain-specific IoT systems [2]. These interconnected devices can bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds to enhance life, culture, and productivity. One of the biggest challenges associated with smart city applications is solid waste disposal, which impacts our society’s health and nature

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Conclusion