Technological Advancements in Smart Waste Collection and Processing Enabling Efficient Waste Management
Waste generation has been identified as the fast-growing problem causing significant environmental and health hazard owing to changing modern societies, especially in the urban regions of the world. Traditional waste management practices face significant challenges in terms of overflowing waste bins and ineffective route planning. With 68% of the world population estimated to live in urban regions by 2050, as per the World Health Organization (WHO), rapid urbanization is the factor warranting the integration of advanced technologies with traditional waste management methods.
The modern infrastructure and capabilities offered by advancements in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) offer coordination between physical and computational infrastructures. This can be leveraged by the waste management industry to overcome the existing challenges as well as provide newer opportunities. Automation with the aid of the Internet of Things (IoT) and intelligent sensors coupled with advanced computing capabilities using cloud computing services has the potential to establish a real-time connection with various entities of the waste management network.
This research study identifies the need for smart waste management and how technological advancements in the ICT sector can aid in mitigating challenges with existing waste management methods.