Design and development of smart Internet of Things–based solid waste management system using computer vision

The proximity principle - disposing of waste close to its origin - has been a central value in municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Japan for the last 30 years and its widespread adoption has helped resolve numerous "Not in My Backyard" issues related to MSW management. However, MSW management costs have soared, in large part because of aggressive recycling efforts and because most MSW is incinerated in a country that has scarce landfill capacity. In addition, smaller, less sophisticated incinerators have been closed because of high dioxin emissions. Rising costs combined with the closure of smaller incinerators have shifted MSW management policy toward regionalization, which is the sharing of waste management facilities across municipalities. Despite the increased use of regionalized MSW facilities, the proximity principle remains the central value in Japanese MSW management. Municipal solid waste management has become increasingly regionalized in the United States, too, but different driving forces are at work in these two countries. The transition to regionalized MSW management in Japan results from strong governmental control at all levels, with the central government providing funds and policy direction and prefectures and municipalities being the primary implementing authorities. By contrast, market forces are a much stronger force with US MSW management, where local governments - with state government oversight - have primary responsibility for MSW management. We describe recent changes in Japan's MSW programs. We examine the connections between MSW facility regionalization, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the proximity principle, coordination among local governments, central government control, and financing mechanisms.

PurposeWith rapid industrialization and urbanization, municipal solid waste (MSW) management has become a serious challenge worldwide, especially in developing countries. The Beijing Municipality is a representative example of many local governments in China that are facing MSW management issues. Although there have been studies in the area of MSW management in the literature, less attention has been devoted to developing a structured framework that identifies and interprets the barriers to MSW management in megacities, especially in Beijing. Therefore, this study focuses on identifying a comprehensive list of barriers affecting the successful implementation of MSW management in Beijing.Design/methodology/approachThrough an extensive review of related literature, 12 barriers are identified and classified into five categories: government, waste, knowledge dissemination, MSW management process and market. Using an integrated approach including the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), maximum mean de-entropy algorithm (MMDE) and interpretive structural modeling (ISM), a conceptual structural model of MSW implementation barriers is constructed to provide insights for industrial decision-makers and policymakers.FindingsThe results show that a lack of economic support from the government, imperfect MSW-related laws and regulations, the low education of residents and the lack of publicity of waste recycling knowledge are the main barriers to MSW management in Beijing. Combined with expert opinions, the paper provides suggestions and guidance to municipal authorities and industry practitioners to guide the successful implementation of MSW management.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study can provide a reference for MSW management in other metropolises in China and other developing countries.Originality/valueThis study proposes a hybrid DEMATEL-MMDE-ISM approach to resolve the subjectivity issues of the traditional ISM approach and it analyzes the barriers that hinder MSW management practices in Beijing.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management and recycling has become an emerging issue in developing countries. Shanghai, the largest megacity in China, is well-known nationwide due to leading China's MSW separation and recycling. Therefore, this paper introduces the Shanghai mode for MSW management and its current situation to enrich existing MSW management studies. Results show that the total generation volume of MSW and amount of MSW generation per capita were 9.00 million tons and 372.16 kg in 2017, increased approximately eight-fold and four-fold compared with the data in 1978, respectively. The MSW treatment rate reached 100% since 2014, with incineration rate increased to 48.56% in 2017. The cost of MSW management after implementing MSW sorting regulation is increased to 985 CNY/ton, including 390 CNY/ton of MSW sorting cost. Then three key features and innovative MSW management modes, namely, mandatory MSW sorting legislation, Green Account program, and the Combined Network program are introduced. Meanwhile, two main challenges are urgent to be responded, including inadequate collecting vehicles and limited wet waste treatment capacity. Finally, policy recommendations on strengthening MSW recycling process, constructing complete terminal treatment industry, and making systematic policies were provided to respond existing challenges.

Every year, religious events (REs) attended by millions of pilgrims, take place in different holy cities around the world. However, research on municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is limited despite the reputation of REs to generate large amounts of municipal solid waste (MSW), which negatively influences the environment and human health when poorly managed. The Arba’een is one of the largest REs in Iraq and worldwide that attracts more than 11 million pilgrims annually. A large quantity of MSW is produced during this event, which is poorly managed and disposed of in a dumpsite without any treatment, due to the lack of research and data about MSW generated during such events. Thus, this research aims to address part of this gap and contribute to new knowledge on MSWM at REs by studying the MSWM system applied at the Arba’een, a subject that has never been considered before. This study adopts mixed methods research approach, employing composition analysis for MSW, questionnaire surveys and interviews with the stakeholders (hoteliers, camp owners, pilgrims and MSWM authorities) and on-site observations as key methods for generation of data. The MSWM system was assessed based on the opinion of the key stakeholders and the Wasteaware benchmark indicators formwork. Numerical models were built to estimate the quantities of MSW produced by pilgrims’ accommodation (hotels and camps) based on the characteristics of the accommodation (capacity, area etc.). MSWM services users’ (hoteliers, camp owners and pilgrims) intention to participate in a recycling scheme and the variables influence this intention were studied with a view of investigating the possibility of introducing a recycling scheme at REs. The results showed that REs account for 14% of the city’s MSW and its main components were organic (57.9%), paper (14.9%) and plastic (14.6%). The MSWM system suffers from operational and governance weaknesses; the key weaknesses are lack of controlled disposal facility, absence of a formal recycling scheme, deficit of key waste-related data, poor public involvement, inadequate planning, and funding limitations. Statistical analyses showed that average municipal solid waste generation (MSWG) from hotels and camps were 112 and 413kg.day-1, respectively. Hotels’ MSWG is influenced by their capacity, staff size and expenditure while camps’ capacity, expenditure and food services affect its MSWG. MSWG from hotels and camps can be modelled with a coefficient of determination of about 0.80. In addition, more than 65% of MSWM system users are willing to participate in MSW recycling during REs and it is expected that about one third would perform recycling; this indicates that introducing MSW recycling during REs could be successful.

Akwa Ibom state is one of the nine states in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This region is critical to sustainable economic development in the country being the main oil producing area. With its location within the tropical rainforest and dense population, Uyo, like other major cities in Nigeria generates enormous municipal solid waste which is not adequately managed. Municipal solid waste management has therefore emerged as one of the greatest challenges facing environmental agencies in the city. Solid waste management is simply reduced to waste transfer with overflow dump sites causing serious environmental pollution. Waste management practices are characterized by inefficient collection and poor disposal methods. Waste stream comprises: 65% of compostable materials, 10% plastics, 8% paper, 4% metal, 3% textile, 3% glass and 7% others. The rate of waste generation ranged between 0.49 to 0.60 kg/capita/day with an average of 0.54 kg/capita/day. Inadequate finances, lack of institutional arrangement, insufficient information on the quantity and quality of waste as well as inappropriate technology are the main constraints militating against effective solid waste management in Uyo. The findings in this research are useful in formulating adequate waste disposal procedures. In addition, the potential of waste recovery, reduction and reuse based on waste characteristics is projected at about $8million annually. However, further research is required in the area in order to maximize this potential.

This study reports on experimentation with municipal and industrial solid waste in Brazil, on mutual inspection of municipal sanitation models in selected Spanish and Brazilian towns, and on observations of municipal solid waste (MSW) management models effective in Argentina, Great Britain, Sweden, and Germany. The diversity of management strategies inhibits technology transfer. Judging by the models inspected, Sweden and Germany appear to be best prepared for stricter European landfill diversion targets in the near future. Experimentation in Brazil has resulted in a proactive MSW management model based on divided collection, which achieves 80 percent landfill diversion. This result, surprisingly, meets and exceeds European diversion targets in a South American context. As the gap in strategy and target narrows between South America and Europe, both technology and management methods may gain intercontinental mobility and thus enhance commercial ties between the two markets in the specific branch of MSW management.

Solid waste is a substantial problem, predominantly in emerging countries that lack adequate substructure and operational land mass to process it in a corrected manner. Several emerging nations are facing a combination of issues that avert proper management of solid waste. This paper reviews the management of municipal solid waste in Ethiopia, using the Addis Ababa City as a case study. The consumption of plastic materials is vast and has been growing steadily in view of the advantages derived from their versatility, relatively low cost, chemical stability, and low degradability. Some of the most used plastics are polyethylenes, which have a massive production and consumption in many applications such as packaging, building, electricity and electronics, agriculture, health care, etc. As well as The production of alternative fuels and safe waste disposal are two of the major concerns facing the world today, because both environmental concerns and energy derived from petroleum based fuels will define the future economic potential of a country. The increased demand and production of polyethylene (PE) has led to the accumulation of large amounts of it in the final waste stream. Keywords: Polyethylene, waste plastics, Solid Waste Management, Municipal Solid Waste, Opinions, Urbanizing, Developing Countries, Solid Waste, Disposal

Management of Municipal Solid wastes (MSW) is a genuine problem to all Municipal Corporations irrespective to their size, population or financial condition in India. Scientific technologies are available for pollution free hygienic disposal of all biodegradable solid wastes by converting them to good quality compost and also for systematic recycling of non-biodegradable wastes for their beneficial utilization. Machineries are also available for converting Municipal solid wastes to energy for partial fulfillment of highly demanded electricity. But still all Municipal Corporation in India mainly depend on old open dumping of solid wastes in some low lying dump-yards creating known environmental pollution hazards. The Municipal authority, the district administration and the common citizens have to play a constructive role for overcoming this problem. Important challenges faced by Municipal authorities all over India are non-preparedness to handle huge quantity of MSW generated daily, lacking of awareness by common people on benefits of segregation of MSW at source, non-availability of infrastructure as well as expert / skilled manpower for scientific disposal of MSW, accurate forecasting about city wise MSW generation and proper encouragement to Public – private partnership (PPP) model for efficient management of MSW. Everyone is essential part of this management system. Citizens have to take the responsibility for segregating solid wastes at home before handing over to Municipal workers and for refraining themselves from throwing out any solid wastes. Municipal corporations have to consider MSW as important resource material, use it for beneficial purposes through vermicomposting and recycling, and to stop dumping of MSW at outskirt by unnecessary spending money on its transportation. It is mainly found that installation of costly machinery for mechanical composting and electricity generation have sometimes become not 2 much fruitful to Municipal authorities due to lack of their expertise as well as maintenance and repairing problem of machineries. Scientific disposal with the help of NGOs and Entrepreneurs are found more effective, employment generative and cheaper than adopting costly mechanical system. Paradigm shift in thought process of every citizen can change the situation of management of municipal solid waste successfully.

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the current status and identify the problems of municipal solid waste (MSW) management in China in order to determine appropriate remedial strategies. This is the first of two papers, discussing primarily the general characteristics of MSW and its management in China. The second paper focuses on specific remedial strategies. MSW generation in China has increased rapidly in the past 20 years from 31.3 million tons in 1980 to 113.0 million tons in 1998. The annual rate of increase is 3–10%. The average generation per capita is 1.0 kg/day (0.38 t/year). Nearly one-half of the waste generated is dumped in the suburbs, where the accumulated quantity has reached 6 billion tons, which has caused heavy environmental pollution. This paper provides information on MSW management in China, such as MSW generation and its physical, chemical, and biological properties. Low calorific value and high moisture content characterize China's municipal waste. Other issues related to MSW management in China are also discussed, including the factors that influence MSW generation quantity and quality, MSW collection, transfer and transport, treatment and disposal, material recovery, legislation, enforcement, and administration.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management must be sustainable in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and address health, environmental, and disposal challenges caused by the vast amounts of trash generated. MSW management going wrong puts locals in danger. In Pakistan, the production of municipal solid trash is rising daily. Urban settlers and other organizations gather a lot of waste in various forms, usually defiling and making our surroundings uninviting. Due to the indiscriminate dumping of various wastes, the soil quality in the metropolitan area has decreased as a result of solid and liquefied waste disposal. Significant environmental concerns regarding soil and water pollution arise from transferring contaminated garbage and mixed fluid outside of waste disposal borders. The impacts of municipal garbage disposal on soil and water quality at open waste dumping sites were the main focus of this review. Using a soil and water quality index, in many regions of the world especially in regions where waste management practices are insufficient, the contamination of soil and water owing to incorrect municipal solid waste disposal is a serious environmental hazard. Open dumping, unregulated landfilling, and illegal dumping are examples of improper waste disposal practices that can result in pollution that affects the quality of the soil and water. They must also seek to identify sustainable waste management solutions. The effect of these emitted gaseous emissions has, however, been thoroughly researched. To safeguard the environment and public health, quick action must be made to control trace element pollution.

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate the current status and to identify the problems of municipal solid waste (MSW) management in China to determine appropriate remedial strategies. This is the second of two papers proposed on this topic. Major problems or difficulties identified in MSW management in China include MSW land, air, and water pollution, commingled collection, poor administration, shortage of funds, lack of facilities, and problems of training and public awareness. In order to solve these problems and to improve MSW management in China, remedial strategies in three areas are recommended: institutional reform, technology development, and legislation and administrative improvement. The primary principle involved in institutional reform is unifying legislative responsibilities into one body and developing a market mechanism for handling MSW. Composting, landfills, and incineration should be equally developed in accordance with China's needs. The feasibility of developing technology to handle MSW in China is discussed. Also recommended is the establishment of sound regulatory systems, including a service fee system, a source separation system, and a training program. China is presently undergoing economic and institutional reform at the national and local levels. Results of this study will provide useful information on MSW management in China.

In this study, an inexact fuzzy-probabilistic programming (IFPP) method is advanced for developing optimal municipal solid waste (MSW) management strategy with uncertain information. The IFPP can support the assessment of risk of violating constraints associated with fuzzy and random features. The developed method is applied to a case study of long-term MSW management planning in the city of Changchun, China. Violations for transfer-station capacity constraints are allowed under a range of probability and possibility levels, which are related to trade-offs between the system cost and the constraint-violation risk. The results indicate that useful solutions for planning the MSW management practices have been generated. They are valuable for supporting the identification of efficient waste-flow allocation patterns, the long-term capacity planning of the city’s waste management system, and the formulation of local policies regarding waste management under uncertainty.

Repercussions of COVID-19 pandemic on municipal solid waste management: Challenges and opportunities

The effective management of municipal solid waste is a critical global issue, affecting both urban and rural areas. To address the growing volume of solid waste, proactive planning is essential. Traditionally, solid waste is often disposed of without segregation, preventing recycling and the recovery of raw materials. Proper waste segregation is a fundamental requirement for effective solid waste management, allowing materials to be recycled efficiently. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and the Internet of Things (IoT) offer powerful tools for identifying recyclable materials like glass, plastic, and metal within solid waste. The primary goal of this research is to contribute to a cleaner environment, reduce infant mortality, improve maternal health, and support efforts to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. This study introduces an intelligent and smart solid waste management system (iSSWMs) designed to smartly collect and segregate solid waste. The proposed system focuses on three types of materials: plastic, glass, and metal. The first phase involves waste collection using smart bins connected to a mobile application, which sends notifications when the bins are full. In the second phase, we develop a deep learning-based mechanical model to segregate the waste, using the VGG-19 model, which achieved a performance accuracy of 99.7% during training. To the best of our knowledge, iSSWMs is a promising framework that integrates both waste collection and segregation through the use of cutting-edge technologies, delivering high accuracy and efficiency.

Application of system dynamics model for municipal solid waste management in Khulna city of Bangladesh