BURBA

"Bottom Up selection, collection and management of URBAn waste"

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The aim of the BURBA project is to develop an automatic system to be used for intelligent waste management. The system consists of intelligent waste containers and an IT tool for waste collection and transport management, including RFID’s (Radio Frequency Identification) ability to reliably identify individual receptacles, users, single marked items or waste categories, and cell-phone-based LBS’ (location-based service) ability to allow an easy identification of the geographical position of the most suitable waste container and to improve its utilization by the citizen (the closest one to user actual position, not full, adequate for that waste category, etc). The BURBA rugged system is integrated into “intelligent waste containers” with capacities of 600 litres and over, for urban and industrial waste collection. It includes electronics for data transmission, for quantity and quality of waste measurement and a power pack that may be recharged using environmental energy scavenging. The foreseen IT tool will exploit the collected data in the frame of an advanced Waste Management concept. It will manage appropriately position and time of collection and optimize truck fleet path and queuing to waste disposal plants (for example incinerators that need continuous adequate feeding in quantity and quality); as well as the differential waste disposal to feed recycling facilities. It will compute service metrics and parameters for decision making and resources allocation. It will so far contribute to improve the management of the waste transport vehicles fleet, to minimise transportation path and diminish fuel expenditures as well as to optimise gain of disposal plants and service to citizens and industrial companies avoiding overfilled containers. Additional features of the platform are the support to rapid deployment of the containers on demand having the possibility to track their position and to redirect and reschedule the waste collection activities.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Sustainable waste management can effectively address global environmental issues. An EU-funded initiative proposed an innovative method to optimise waste collection and management.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Intelligent and smart actions improving modern-day living are key to a better future and quality of life. This also applies to waste management, and the 'Bottom up selection, collection and management of urban waste' (http://www.burbaproject.net (BURBA)) project provided the means to make this a reality.

Project partners aimed to develop an intelligent waste container for improved waste management by taking advantage of information technology and high-tech applications such as radio frequency identification and location-based services.

The approach and technical developments enable easy identification of the most suitable waste container's location and improve its utilisation. The system generates information for appropriate waste collection times and management. It also optimises truck traffic and queuing at waste disposal plants, as well as the allocation of resources.

Project members identified end-user requirements and defined specifications for the main system hardware and software. All software components needed for the fully operating system were developed and implemented, and selection and design of electronic components were realised relevant to hardware integration. A design specifications document was also drafted.

Team members designed electronic equipment satisfying the defined waste container specifications and then conducted a series of successful tests on the entire system. They then integrated a variety of interfaces into a decision support system, including sensor and positioning modules, user applications and communications.

The intelligent waste container was successfully demonstrated in the municipalities of Camogli in Italy, Rzeszow in Poland and Santander in Spain.

Thanks to BURBA's fully automatic data collection system, waste management systems will be more efficient and environment friendly. Urban authorities and citizens alike stand to benefit.