Why The Smart Bin Is So Important In Smart City Planning

The UN estimates the global population reached 8 billion at the end of 2022 and is expected to reach around 9 billion by 2037. This continued growth poses significant socioeconomical challenges and perhaps more worryingly planet-wide environmental issues. The Earth’s global average surface temperature is on a long-term warming trend and we can see the affects happening as we speak with more intense weather conditions occurring everywhere, such as the extreme deadly temperatures being experienced in southern parts of Europe this summer. Though the causes of global warming are varied, one key area that we can all do something about is reducing waste. Indeed, city planners in several parts of the world are embracing advances in technology to create cleaner, greener and more convenient living environments. These so called “Smart Cities” leverage a variety of new technologies to not only improve the standard of living for the inhabitants, but also help to solve some of the issues an ever-increasing human population creates. One of the issues the smart city aims to improve on is waste management and part of that is the deployment of smart bins. In this blog, we will look at why the smart bin is so important in smart city planning.

What is a smart bin?

Smart bins are intelligent waste management systems which go far beyond the standard waste bin you have normally seen on the street. The smart bin from GF Technovation in Hong Kong, for instance, uses embedded wireless ultrasonic fill-level sensors to detect how full the bin is. The real-time data is then sent to a cloud-based monitoring and analytics platform using IoT technology, allowing collection schedules to be optimized, cutting collection truck CO2 emissions, improving environmental health and reducing costs. It also features a solar-powered trash compactor for greater capacity, and automated fire detection and extinguishing.

See the smart bin in action here: Guardforce's Smart Waste Bin - YouTube

Why is the smart bin so important in smart city planning?

• Smart bins save time and costs. With the real-time data collected, managers have a clear view of which bins need more frequent emptying and which don’t. This allows for more efficient fleet management, not only reducing collection truck CO2 emissions on the street, but also meaning less trucks and manpower overall should be needed. This will help cities fulfil their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) under environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) guidelines.
• They help to use bin space more effectively. Smart bins feature trash compactors which auto-compress the waste. This further lowers collection frequency and prevents overflowing to improve public hygiene and prevent environmental contamination.
• Data analytics and transparency. IoT and Big Data technology are invaluable tools to improve waste management and this is where smart bins can really be useful in smart city planning. “Smart waste management” uses the abundance of data collected by the sensors inside the smart bin to provide clear and actionable insights for different parties with different objectives, for example collection services can plan more effective routes for their trucks, local councils can see how a collection contractor is performing or obtain an overview of recycling and waste trends in various areas, perhaps for future charging or more effective bin deployment. Even governments can use the data to analyse and predict the waste trends and patterns in their country to help formulate strategies to fulfil their SDG as part of the Paris Agreement.

Learn more about GF Technovation’s smart bin and other smart city solutions

Smart bins form an integral part of smart city planning and play a vital role in smart waste management, aiding in the shift towards a more sustainable future. They are ideal for both areas with large volumes of footfall, such as city streets, malls, campuses, transportation hubs, etc., and more remote areas, such as country parks or rural villages as they will only alert collection services when they need to be emptied. To learn more about GF Technovation’s smart bin system, click here.