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O1.A2.1 State of Digitalization in European Municipal
Waste Management: Comparative Study – five EU member
countries, Estonia, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and Spain
Disclaimer
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication
reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for
any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Output factsheet:
Funding Programme
Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union
Funding NA
EL01 Greek State Scholarship’s Foundation (IKY)
Project full title
Innovative training based on Blockchain technology
applied to waste management - BLOCKWASTE
Field
KA2 - Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of
good practices
KA203 - Strategic Partnerships for higher education
Project Number
2020-1-EL01-KA203-079154
Project Duration
24 months
Project Start Date
01-10-2020
Project End Date:
30-09-2022
Output details:
Output title: O1: Learning materials for interdisciplinary Blockchain-MSW
Task Title: O1/A2 - Comparative study of information technologies applied to waste management at international
level
Subtask: A2.1 - State of Digitalization in European Municipal Waste Management: Comparative Study – five EU
member countries, Estonia, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, and Spain
Output leader: NTUA
Task leader: FH-Bielefeld
Author(s): Rainer Lenz, Bielefeld UAS, rlenz@fh-bielefeld.de, Germany
Christa Barkel, Saxion UAS, c.barkel@saxion.nl, Netherlands
Maria Menegaki, National Technical University of Athens, menegaki@metal.ntua.gr, Greece
Marija Klõga, Tallinn University of Technology, marija.kloga@taltech.ee, Estonia
Juana María Torrecilla, Centro Tecnológico del Mármol, Piedra y Materiales, juanamari-
toabril@ctmarmol.es, Spain
Reviewed by: Paraskevas Tsangaratos, National Technical University of Athens, ptsag@metal.ntua.gr, Greece,
Ermo Täks, Tallinn University of Technology, ermo.taks@taltech.ee, Estonia
Document Control
Document version
Version
Amendment
V0.1
30/04/2021
Final Version – 30/06/2021
i
Contents
Executive summary .................................................................................................................. iii
1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Brief project description ............................................................................................ 1
1.2 Objectives and methodological approach ................................................................. 1
2 Estonia: State of Digitalization in Municipal Waste Management .................................... 3
2.1 Organisation of Municipal Waste Management in Estonia ....................................... 3
2.2 IT solutions used in Municipal Waste Management ................................................. 4
2.3 Final assessment ....................................................................................................... 5
3 Germany: State of Digitalization in Municipal Waste Management ................................. 6
3.1 Organisation of the Municipal Waste Management in Germany ............................. 6
3.2 IT solutions used in Municipal Waste Management ................................................. 8
3.3 Final Assessment ..................................................................................................... 10
4 Greece: State of Digitalization in Municipal Waste Management .................................. 11
4.1 Organisation of Municipal Waste Management in Greece ..................................... 11
4.2 IT solutions used in Municipal Waste Management ............................................... 12
4.3 Best practice example “Rewarding Packaging Recycling” ....................................... 14
4.4 Final Assessment ..................................................................................................... 15
5 Netherlands: State of Digitalization in Municipal Waste Management .......................... 16
5.1 Organisation of the Dutch Municipal Waste Management .................................... 16
5.2 IT solutions used in Municipal Waste Management ............................................... 17
5.3 Best practice examples ............................................................................................ 17
5.4 Final assessment ..................................................................................................... 18
6 Spain: State of Digitalization in Municipal Waste Management ..................................... 20
6.1 Organisation of Municipal Waste Management in Spain ........................................ 20
6.2 IT solutions used in Municipal Waste Management ............................................... 20
6.3 Best practice examples ............................................................................................ 21
6.4 Final assessment ..................................................................................................... 22
7 Benchmarking findings with other studies ...................................................................... 23
7.1 EIONET Report “Digital Waste management” ......................................................... 23
7.2 WINPOL Project “Waste Management Intelligent Systems and Policies” ............... 25
7.3 WasteIQ - a case study from Norway ...................................................................... 26
8 Readiness for Blockchain applications in waste management ........................................ 27
9 References ....................................................................................................................... 29
ii
List of figures
Figure 1:Schematic structure of the study (source: the authors)
.................................................................................................................................................. 2
Figure 2: Information asymmetry between users and municipal waste management
(source: the authors) ................................................................................................................. 7
Figure 3: Market shares of solid waste collection – Germany 2020 (source: EUWID, 2020) 8
Figure 4: Digital projects in German Municipal Waste Management (source: the authors
based on data from Digital project mapping of German Association of Local Utilities of
Municipalities (VKU) and Verband Kommunaler Unternehmen e.V. (2019)– for detailed
statistics cf appendix) ................................................................................................................ 9
Figure 5: Main areas of digitalization in municipal waste management (source: Berg and
Sebestyén, 2020, p. 23) ........................................................................................................... 23
Figure 6: IoT solutions integrated in the waste truck (source: Berg and Sebestyén, 2020, p.
22) 24
Figure 7: Main areas of digitalization in best practice projects (source: screening based on
project data of WINPOL, 2019) .............................................................................................. 25
Figure 8: WasteIQ – data platform (source: https://www.iswa.org/home/news/news-
detail/article/guest-blog-the-4th-industrial-revolution-in-practice-wasteiq-the-open-waste-
management-platf/109/) ........................................................................................................ 26
Figure 9: Lack of coherence in digital waste management projects .................................. 27
List of abbreviations
Abbreviation
Definition
MSW
Municipal Solid Waste
IT
Information Technology
EU
European Union
IoT
Internet of Things
EPR
Extended Producer Responsibility
PAYT
Pay As You Throw
iii
Executive summary
The results of the country studies and the comparison with other studies show that the
digitalization process in the municipal waste sector is still in its infancy. There are a large
number of innovative projects in the various countries in the areas of communication with
users, incentive systems and, in particular, the use of IoT in waste collection, but there is no
comprehensive promotion of these projects in the countries, neither through state financial
support programmes nor through the targeted transfer of know-how. For now, it is only the
associations of municipal public or private waste disposal companies that are multipliers of
information and hubs of innovation.
The digitalization projects described in municipal waste management are very much driven by
the use of new technology. The installation of telematics and IoT on waste trucks are typical
tasks of mechanical engineers. The accomplishment of these tasks is of utmost importance
for the smooth running of logistical processes within an organisation. But Blockchain is about
creating a win-win situation between stakeholders of a chain so that each of the partners
involved ends up benefiting from the collaboration.
To finally answer the question about readiness for the application of Blockchain technology,
it can be stated that, yes, from a purely technical point of view, most municipal waste
management companies are up-to-date and use IoT extensively. What is missing is a clear data
strategy which includes the analysis and the sharing of data with a variety of stakeholders.
However, these are not technical problems but problems of the organisational development
of municipal waste management companies.
1
1
Introduction
1.1
Brief project description
This comparative study is part of the BlockWASTE project, which is an EU-funded Erasmus Plus
project. The project aims to address the interoperability between waste management and
Blockchain technology and to promote its proper treatment through educational training, so
that the data collected is shared within a safe environment, where there is no room for
uncertainty and mistrust between all parties involved in waste chains or cycles.
For this purpose, the objectives of the BlockWASTE project are as follows:
• To conduct research on solid waste generated in cities and how it is managed, so that
an information base of good practices can be created that helps reintroduce waste
into the value chain, promoting the idea of Intelligent Circular Cities.
• To identify the benefits of the Blockchain Technology within the municipal waste
management (MSW) process.
• To create a study plan that supports the training of teachers and professionals of
organizations and companies of the sector, in the overlap of the fields of Waste
Management, Circular Economy and Blockchain technology.
• To develop an interactive tool based on Blockchain technology, which will make it
possible to put into practice the management of data obtained from urban waste,
thus visualizing the way in which the data is implemented in the Blockchain and
enabling users to evaluate different forms of management.
Further information is available from the BlockWASTE project website
https://blockwasteproject.eu.
1.2
Objectives and methodological approach
The aim of this comparative study is to document the status quo in the digitalization of
municipal waste management in EU countries, in order to ultimately examine in which areas
the implementation of blockchain solutions makes sense.
Blockchain is only a database solution that allows to trace and track transactions within a
waste chain, to transfer digital assets from peer to peer and to use smart contracts for
automating processes. But for a database application like the Blockchain, the decisive factor
is of course the automatic collection of data via Internet-of-Things devices such as sensors and
cameras, and the analysis of the data via AI applications. Ultimately, this comparative study is
also about the question of the digital readiness of municipal waste managers as regards the
use of Blockchain solutions.
2
Figure 1: Schematic structure of the study (source: the authors)
As shown in figure 1 this comparative study is based on the description of the status quo of
digitalization in municipal waste management in the five countries of the project partners:
Estonia, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Spain. The IT solutions used are of course
dependent on the organisation and processes of municipal waste management in each
country. Consequently, the actual description of the use of IT in the municipalities is preceded
by a chapter on the organisation of municipal waste management in the respective country.
In addition, best practice examples of each country are briefly de-scribed where available.
Obviously, a comparative view of only five of the 27 EU member states has limited
significance. To mitigate this limitation, the results of the analysis are benchmarked with the
results of other studies on this topic. However, the data and the number of studies on this
topic are limited.
Estonia
Germany
Greece
Netherlands
Spain
1. Organisation Municipal
Waste Management
2. State of Digitalisation in
MWM
3. Best Practise
4. Assessment
Benchmarking results with findings of other studies
Comparative Study: State of digitalisation in Municipal WM
Assessment: Readiness for Blockchain Applications
3
2
Estonia: State of Digitalization in Municipal Waste
Management
2.1
Organisation of Municipal Waste Management in Estonia
In Estonia waste management is the responsibility of local governments that organise waste
collection and separation facilities. Local governments have separate waste management
plans, which are region-specific and take population density and local capacity into
consideration. Local waste management plans are prepared for certain time periods and are
aligned with the main objectives of the National Waste Management Plan 2014-2020 (EC,
2014).
According to the Waste Act, one of the most important responsibilities of local authorities
regarding waste management is to organize the collection of municipal waste in their
territory. Household / municipal waste is collected and transported by a waste management
company, contracted by the municipality through public procurement. A contract is signed for
five years and the company has a monopoly in a certain waste collection area (waste collection
areas are defined in the Waste Act). The company offering the cheapest rate for waste
collection usually wins the tender. Organised waste collection has to cover (mixed) municipal
waste generated in the area. The local authority, however, can also extend organised
collection to other waste types (Tallinn Environmental Agency, 2014).
In addition to the Waste Act, waste management-related responsibilities are also regulated
by the Packaging Act, according to which local authorities have the responsibility to organise
the collection of packaging waste in their territory. The main objective is for local authorities
to coordinate the operation of a collection system (agreements with recovery organisations,
presentation of requirements for the packaging waste collection system, awareness raising
and supervision) (Tallinn Environmental Agency, 2014).
In Estonia the most common way of collecting different types of waste includes bringing points
near residential areas. In addition to that, there is an extended producer responsibility (EPR)
deposit refund system where the return points are located mostly close by/in local grocery
stores. Door-to-door collection and co-mingled collection systems are becoming more
common but vary depending on the waste management plan of a local government; they are
a preferred waste collection system for private housing estates/neighbourhoods. Increasingly
there are more civic amenity sites for different types of waste collection (electronic waste,
garden/green waste, construction waste and other). The collection systems vary in different
geographical locations depending on population and population density (Estonian Ministry of
Environment, 2014, pp. Annex 4, pp. 7-22)
The collection of packaging waste (not covered by the deposit-refund system) is organised by
three producer responsibility organisations. Packaging waste is mostly collected directly from
companies and retailers. Packaging waste from households is mainly collected through the
collection point system. In addition, there is a very well-functioning deposit-refund system for
glass, plastic and aluminium beverage containers (organised by a deposit organisation)
(BiPRO, 2014).
Penalties for non-compliance are low
State supervision over compliance with the requirements arising from the Waste Act are to
be exercised by the Environmental Inspectorate and local governments or local government
4
agencies. Upon failure to comply with a precept, the upper limit of a penalty payment
pursuant to the procedure provided for in the Substitutive Enforcement and Penalty Payment
Act is 32,000 euros.
Waste Management service fees are fixed
No special incentive system rewarding municipalities and households to prevent or reduce
solid waste in the MSW sector was found. Service fees are fixed in the contract between the
municipality and the contractor, differentiated by service package, whereas the minimum
package is mandatory for a given type of house, i.e. each waste holder has to choose a
package. The aim of municipally organized collections is clearly to include as many possible
waste holders as possible in the collection scheme. Considering the remarkably low level of
service fees, the outcome seems to have been successful. In several areas households pay
around 1 €/month, although the average is 4-6 €/month. Those fees are paid directly to
private service providers. For apartment buildings the service fee is calculated as a flat rate
(Estonian Ministry of Environment, 2012)
2.2
IT solutions used in Municipal Waste Management
The results and statements obtained about the use of innovative IT solutions in municipal
waste management might be incomplete and segmental. It was not possible to get personal
replies from all municipal waste management companies, and the open source data available
are not comprehensive. What was missing was particularly:
• information regarding the use of Blockchain for tracking the waste chain and
providing reliable information
• information regarding the use of tokens or gamification strategies
IoT (sensors, cameras, waste scanners)
According to a written reply from Tallinn Wastes Reuse Centre (https://tjt.ee/) the garbage
trucks collecting municipal waste in Estonia use GPS and tracking software and are of the most
modern and automated type. No smart solutions on garbage bins are used in Estonia on a
large scale, since the amount of MSW containers and the frequency of their emptying is too
high.
Smart bins used for industrial customers only
According to an interview with the Ragn-Sells (www.ragnsells.ee) representative the company
is using sensor technologies (RFID Solutions), where information regarding the filling level of
the garbage bin is collected from smart bin sensors in real-time. These smart bins are currently
used only for business/industrial customers, since they need electric power supply, which is
readily accessible at e.g. manufacturing facilities. Also, industrial customers usually use large
garbage containers where the waste volume can be significantly reduced before the actual
collection. The sensors installed in bins are also tested in public containers for the collection
of packaging waste (in about 40 containers in Tallinn). For private clients this solution could
be too costly.
For monitoring the waste generated by households and for the assessment of private clients’
behavioural patterns, some pilot tests were implemented in hospitals in Norway and are
planned to be implemented in Estonia in the near future.
5
IoT used to enhance automation and process efficiency
In Estonia, a most advanced logistics system for waste collection trucks is used, that provides
notifications of need for collection alongside information on optimized routes for waste
collection so that collection time and cost regarding fuel, truck material, and human resources
can be reduced. Additionally, an advanced self-service platform is in use for private and
business customers, where the system automatically calculates which services are provided
at the «service recipient’s» address. The most challenging task for system developers is to
correctly calculate waste collection time intervals.
A new sorting line is tested for sorting different types of plastic waste with infrared
spectroscopy (using machine learning). The system recognizes different types of plastics and
separates them by the use of compressed air.
According to a written reply from Eliko Competence Centre in Electronics, Info- and
Communication Technologies the Bepco company is using the RFID (Radio Frequency
Identification) system to monitor the reusable packaging of its waste management system
(http://bepco.ee/rfid-tracking/). More detailed video is here: https://youtu.be/iEfEQsJJ07Q.
Smartphone apps for citizens’ assistance in waste management are:
• Informative webpage (an app is also available for smartphones) for citizens showing
where to drop different types of household waste: https://kuhuviia.ee/
• Game for citizens about how to correctly sort different household wastes:
https://www.energia.ee/prugimang
• Furthermore, a delivery time notification system for smartphones is under
development. This customer app would allow citizens to gather and schedule waste
collection times.
Different data systems for specific waste types
The main information systems providing services in waste management in Estonia are:
• PROTO – Register of problematic products and wastes in Estonia
• PAKIS – Packaging Register that keeps records on the packaging of goods circulating
on the Estonian market, packaging wastes generated, packaging reuse, packaging
waste recovery, etc.
• OJS – Information system for handling hazardous wastes
• JATS – Waste reporting information system
2.3
Final assessment
Recent technological developments offer new smart solutions at all stages of municipal waste
management. The implementation of new technologies, however, depends on many factors
starting from economic opportunities to general waste management organization and waste
generation patterns. According to VJK experts, Estonian waste companies have made no large-
scale investments in technology development in recent years since possible developments in
waste management have been rather unclear (OSKA, 2019). No specific public funding
programs (at federal, regional or local government level) for supporting the digital
transformation of public Municipal Waste Management providers have been found in Estonia
so far.
6
3 Germany: State of Digitalization in Municipal Waste
Management
According to the ECO-Innovation Observatory (2019) Germany is a well-established
frontrunner in the context of waste management, recycling and environmental technologies.
Most recently, increasing attention is focusing on digitalization and its potentials for the
circular economy and environmental and resource protection. The German Environment
Ministry launched a ‘Digital Agenda’ in 2020.
Furthermore “Germany has not yet developed a dedicated Eco-Innovation Action Plan (Eco-
AP), nevertheless it has implemented an eco-innovation policy. Several strategies pave the
way for eco-innovation, R&D and research and investment but risk to remain at a strategic
level as long as they are not flanked by incentives and binding instruments steering the
direction. A new R&D programme has just started with the name “Resource-efficient circular
economy - Building and mineral cycles (ReMin) (2020-2024).
The Eco-Innovation Observatory publishes the Eco-innovation index, which demonstrates the
eco-innovation performance of a country compared with the EU average and with the EU top
performers
1
.
The scoring shows that Germany’s overall performance in comparison to the 27 countries and
the EU average is good. In 2019, Germany ranks sixth in Eco-Innovation Index (Figure 1 in the
link above). It has lost three places compared to the 2017 index and six places since 2015 when
it ranked first but still counts among the eco-leaders.
3.1
Organisation of the Municipal Waste Management in Germany
In accordance with the federal structure of Germany, responsibilities, accountability, and
duties regarding waste management are shared between the federal government, the 16
federal states and local communities and cities. The national Ministry for the Environment
sets the priorities, participates in environmental legislative processes at national and
European level and monitors their implementation, formulates strategies for implementation
with targets and defines requirements for waste facilities. Federal states and local
communities/cities are responsible for implementing national and European laws. For
implementation each national state adopts its own waste management act containing further
implementation provisions for municipalities and cities of the respective federal state to the
extent permitted by national and European legislation. Since there is no central or uniform
waste management planning for the whole of Germany, there are sometimes very diverse
waste management concepts and rules on requirements in effect at state and municipal levels
(European Environment Agency, 2016).
1
EcoI Index is a composite index that is based on 16 indicators which are aggregated into five
components: eco-innovation inputs, eco-innovation activities and eco-innovation outputs as well as
environmental out-comes and socio-economic outcomes.
7
Waste separation and household information
The waste generated by German households is collected decentrally by a weekly door-to-door
service. Every household is requested to separate their waste in mostly four dedicated,
differently coloured bins:
• green bins for bio-waste
• yellow bins for packing waste, plastics and metals
• blue bins for paper
• black bins for residual waste
• Bulky waste can either be dropped directly at a central collection point of the
municipality or, in the case of larger quantities, will also be collected by the waste
service.
• Cans and other single use and refillable containers can be taken back to supermarkets,
when empty, for collecting the deposit paid when buying these goods. All drinking
containers with some exemptions for wine etc. have a deposit fee.
• Glass waste like empty wine bottles is dropped at central collection containers spread
all over a city.
Figure 2: Information asymmetry between users and municipal waste management (source: the
authors)
Fixed Household Fee
Citizens typically pay a fixed fee to municipalities for collecting household waste. The fee is
defined by local authorities. In some more progressive municipalities the waste fee is
dependent on the weight of the household waste produced. However, this requires firstly that
the bin is equipped with an RFID chip, and secondly, that the garbage trucks measure the
weight with a scale on the truck when emptying the garbage bins.
The collection of packing waste is free of charge for citizens, as the producer of a product is
responsible for the product when it becomes waste (so called “extended producer
responsibility – ERP”). As opposed to other EU countries, in Germany the ERP only applies to
8
household packaging waste, whereas in most European countries commercial and industrial
packing waste is included (European Environment Agency, 2016).
Collection and transport of household waste
In Germany, based on the law on the circular economy, municipalities are responsible for the
disposal of private household waste and commercial waste similar to household waste.
Municipalities’ responsibility covers collection and transporting waste, measures to promote
waste prevention and recovery, and planning, constructing and operating waste disposal
facilities in line with national and regional legislation. The service can be provided by public
waste management authorities themselves or in the form of third-party commissioning of PPP
companies (Private-Public Partnership) or by private waste management companies following
a call for tender.
The market for waste collection and transport is made up of 52% of municipality-owned
companies, while private companies have a 41% market share and 7% remain for the PPP
segment (ASA et al, 2020).
Figure 3: Market shares of solid waste collection – Germany 2020 (source: EUWID, 2020)
3.2
IT solutions used in Municipal Waste Management
Due to the decentralized organizational structure of German waste management, there are
no central statistics on innovative digital projects in municipal waste management. Only the
Verband kommunaler Unternehmen e.V. (VKU), the German Association of Local Utilities runs
a mapping of digital applications of their members companies and publishes all projects on its
webpage. Using the keyword “Waste Management” in its search function leads to 23 best-
practice examples of digital applications in local waste management utilities. Additionally, the
Verband Kommunaler Unternehmen e.V. (2019) published a study “Abfallwirtschaft Digital”
(Waste Management Digital) with 18 best-practice examples of digital waste management. In
total, this results in 46 digital projects in municipal waste management in 43 municipalities.
These were screened according to the following categories:
49,70%
14,50%
3,20%
3%
2,70%
1,80%
1,60%
1,50%
1,20% 1,20%
19,50%
Market Shares Solid Waste Collection
Germany 2020
Municipalities REMONDIS SUEZ Alba
Veolia PreZero Nehlsen Schönmackers
Heinz Knett+Gurdul. Sonstige
9
• Digital idea workshops
• Object and image recognition of cleanliness (data analytics)
• Autonomous cleaning machines and robots
• Smart bins equipped with sensors to measure filling
• Waste reporting apps or QR codes for citizens
• Telematics systems for vehicles-to-office communication
• Mobile performance sensors recording data for process optimization
Since none of the listed projects had a Blockchain application, Blockchain was not included as
an explicit category.
The screening process led to the following results:
Figure 4: Digital projects in German Municipal Waste Management (source: the authors based on data
from Digital project mapping of German Association of Local Utilities of Municipalities (VKU)
and Verband Kommunaler Unternehmen e.V. (2019)– for detailed statistics cf appendix)
Most of the digital projects are waste reporting apps for citizens to report trash in parks or
even for error reporting during trash pickup. Ultimately, these are the first tentative steps
toward communication and interaction with citizens, although they do not yet overcome the
information asymmetry mentioned above. Most of these apps are not interactive, but are
designed as a communicative one-way street. There is usually no data-based communication
strategy that is individually tailored to the user profile of the respective household. Such a
strategy would mean a completely new self-image of municipalities as service providers for
households in terms of waste management.
The digital projects, which include equipping waste bins with sensors to measure fill levels,
are also moving towards overcoming information asymmetry. Sensors in smart garbage bins
enable a municipality to assign bins to their owners and to inform households about their
individual waste generation per month. By changing fee structures from fixed fees to pay-as-
you-use systems, further incentives would be set for waste avoidance. The problem here will
be data protection and citizens’ right to privacy. Data protection and anonymity would
certainly be easier to achieve with a Blockchain-based solution. Basically, overcoming these
obstacles will require building trust between citizens and municipalities, which can only be
installed through innovative communication and participation concepts.
10
Telematic systems for real-time communication between waste trucks and municipalities’
offices go hand in hand with a mobile recording of performance that would prepare process
optimization. Waste trucks could nowadays be equipped with all modern IoT solutions
producing a mass of real-time data.
3.3
Final Assessment
To date, the following technologies are missing among the approaches to digitizing municipal
waste management:
• Big Data Analysis based on AI
• Blockchain and tokenization
Basically, the approaches taken so far seem to be isolated digital projects that are hardly
integrated into a coherent digital transformation strategy for the transformation of municipal
waste management. The approaches are largely technology-driven and do not focus on
citizens and waste prevention as a top priority. Technology alone cannot make this happen
anyway. This requires a fundamental transformation of the organization and the mission of
the municipalities: The goal of all activities and operations must be waste avoidance by
households, i.e by citizens.
11
4
Greece: State of Digitalization in Municipal Waste
Management
4.1
Organisation of Municipal Waste Management in Greece
The administrative structure with regard to the Waste Management in Greece includes the
following stakeholders:
• The Ministry of Environment and Energy (YPEN) is responsible for the development
and implementation of environmental and waste management policies at the national
level.
• The Ministry of the Interior (YPES) is responsible for the supervision of Decentralized
Administrations (DA) and local authorities (Regions and Municipalities).
• The Hellenic Recycling Agency (HRA) or “Alternative Waste Management” is a public
interest, non-profit private entity supervised by the YPEN. Its main objective is the
development, planning and implementation of policies for the recycling and recovery
of waste.
• Solid Waste Management Associations (“FoDSA” in Greek), are the regional non-profit
waste management entities which comprise municipalities within each region and are
responsible for the development, implementation and monitoring of Regional Waste
Management Plans.
• Municipalities are responsible for the implementation of the development and
implementation of Local Waste Management Plans (based on Regional Waste
Management Plans).
• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes and Producer Responsibility
Organisations (PRO), which are private organisations grouped by sector, that consist
producers liable under the EPR policy. Greece has EPR systems (for MSW) for
batteries, WEEE and packaging.
- One PRO for the collection of batteries called AFIS S.A.
- Two PROs for the collection of WEEE — ANAKYKLOSI S.A. and FOTOKYKLOSI
S.A.
- Four PROs for packaging:
ü the Hellenic Recovery Recycling Corporation (HERRCO), which is the
most widespread system and has an extensive network of “blue bins”
for packaging waste and a second network of “blue bells” for the
separate collection of glass.
ü The Centre for Alternative Environmental Management S.A (“KEPED”
S.A., in Greek) is a PRO, which promotes a nationwide collection of
the packaging waste of lubricant oils.
ü the Rewarding Packaging Recycling, which runs separate municipal
waste collection of packaging through 51 “Recycling Houses”
distributed in major urban areas nationwide (see best practice
example below).
ü AB Vassilopoulos is a supermarket chain with the only single-member
PRO in Greece and in Europe collecting packaging waste and offers a
separate collection of materials in integrated recycling systems of
packaging waste (paper, plastics, metal and glass). The system uses
“Recycling Centres” and reverse vending machines on supermarket
12
premises nationwide (AB Vasilopoulos S.A., 2017). They offer
monetary incentives to citizens for recycling (1 euro for every 33
packages) via retail vouchers.
ü PROs offering a voluntary deposit refund scheme are run also by the
Athenian Brewery for beer and beverage bottles (HRA, 2019);
(Athenian Brewery, 2020).
4.2
IT solutions used in Municipal Waste Management
So far there is no extended implementation of IT solutions in MSW in Greece. Specific
Municipalities have started running local actions, and some new attempts have been
announced mainly through pilot projects.
Pay-as-you-throw – pilot application
The municipality of Elefsina, in the Attica Region, has implemented a pay-as-you-throw (PAYT)
system in a pilot application under the LIFE Environment program (Life + Environment Policy
and Governance, 2011). Results have been only moderately successful. According to Vitoraki
(2019) the recycling infrastructure and convenience for citizens was not appropriately
designed. Improvements in the collection system are required, so as to make recycling more
convenient for citizens. Door-to-door collection is an option that must be examined for certain
or all municipal districts.
Various Smart Bin Projects
The region of Chania, Crete was involved in a LIFE program project entitled: “Sustainable
waste management using ICT tools-LIFE EWAS” aiming to optimize waste collection in terms
of collection frequency and route planning. The sensors were sending data of filling levels of
each container through GPRS.
The municipalities of Metsovo and the Ziros in Hepirus were involved in the project INTERNET
OF BINS which is co-funded under the Interreg IPA CBC Programme “Greece – Albania 2014 –
2020”. The innovative project contains three elements:
• Integrated “Smart” Waste Management solution/Capacity Improvement: Installation
of Smart Waste Management and Telematic Monitoring Equipment (Bin monitoring
system-ultrasonic filling sensors and software application, waste management
supplies).
• Visual disturbance reduction: Installation of underground waste collection systems at
critical points and
• Eco-friendly approaches to waste management: supply and distribution of compost
bins (household waste purposes), awareness campaigns, waste management
optimization and monitoring plans (data analysis and management plan), mobile and
web applications for thematic information.
IoT on waste trucks and in resident communication
The municipality of Halandri was involved in “Waste4Think” project funded by the EU Horizon
2020 program. The Municipality’s waste management combines two features:
13
• Communication to residents to ensure their engagement (up-to-date municipality
website, use of social media, awareness events for reuse and recycling, collection
timetable for residents).
• IoT in waste trucks: GPS and informatics systems, in bio-waste and paper/cardboard
collection vehicles.
Use of household data and resident communication
The municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni implemented the separate collection of six (6)
waste streams. The municipality has contracts with EPR schemes (HERRCO) and implements
different collection systems according to the characteristics of households, type of waste and
area (door-to-door, kerbside, communal, etc.).
The municipality’s waste management and recycling actions are communicated to the
residents to ensure their engagement, in many ways including among others easily accessible
information and guidelines to residents through the municipality’s website, social events, or
support given to voluntary civil and environmental protection groups.
Citizen incentives & communication combined with smart bins
In order to increase citizens’ engagement in the procedure, the municipality of Voula-Vari-
Vouliagmeni awards as incentives loyalty points plus discounts on admission to beaches, on
kindergarden fees etc. The municipality implemented “SMART” waste management solutions
including telematics for the optimization of collection routes, and “SMART” bins with sensors
indicating fill-level and location of bins.
The municipality of Vrilissia implements a separate collection of twelve (12) waste streams.
Continuous and innovative communication and dissemination of the municipality’s waste
management and recycling is designed to ensure residents’ engagement, with efforts
including among others:
• an on-line platform to raise awareness, informing and educating residents on
composting, proper separate collection of organics, etc.;
• easily accessible information and guidelines to residents through the municipality’s
up-to-date website, social events, workshops;
• the use of the inter-municipal recycling reward platform “Follow green” promoting
recycling by training and educating residents through games, articles on recycling,
etc. while scoring points redeemable with local businesses;
Data collection platform for monitoring waste flows and PAYT fee scheme
Heraklion (GR) and the region of Crete were involved in the project “WIN – POL” (Waste
Management Intelligent Systems and Policies, PGI04924) funded by Interreg Europe 2014-
2020. The project aims to improve waste management in European cities through the use of
IoT and incentive systems. WINPOL achieved an important milestone with the preparation of
six action plans, each of which will be implemented in one of the six cities selected. In the case
of Heraklion the following actions are going to be implemented and tested:
• an innovative system to collect data regarding bio-waste collection
• a platform monitoring waste flows and optimizing the supply chain at municipal
level
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• a platform monitoring waste collected at the Green Points at regional level and
sharing data with users
• introduction of PAYT systems funding opportunities for municipalities
The region of Attica has announced a call for tenders for the development of a remote digital
platform, which will be used for integrating reward programs addressing recycling awareness
- with recycling corners and surface and underground bin systems.
The remote platform will aggregate, in a single information system, all the data obtained from
recycling corners, from citizens, municipalities and all other stakeholders involved. The
information will be processed by the platform to formulate procedures and present and
communicate the results to the involved parties.
The main functions of the platform will be:
• Communication with the recycling corners that are part of the network and more
specifically with local control bodies or equipment (local management consoles - KTD)
• Communication with citizens and recyclers through the website, apps, etc.
• Informing and raising awareness of the public.
• Rewarding citizens based on the waste recycled through the contracted recycling
corners.
• Recording waste volumes collected by recycling corner, by user and by municipality.
• “Bucket full” warning and collection route optimization. In order to optimize the
collection routes, a tablet with tailor-made software will be placed in each garbage
truck. The software will receive data on the fill level of bins broken down by recycling
corner and material bin. Based on this data broken down by entity collecting
recyclables and truck available, the software will configure optimal collection routes
every day and will forward them to either the respective collection agents or the
tablets of the trucks, depending on agreements with collection agents.
The platform will process constantly updated data sets and will have the ability to edit and
visualize them depending on the interested audience. In addition, the platform will be able to
connect with any other intelligent sorting systems at the source of recyclable materials (such
as static or mobile green spots) or with any other digital platforms for recycling rewards.
The Hellenic Recycling Agency (HRA/EOAN) has developed, with the technical support of D-
Waste, a new specialized platform called "GRE-CYCLE ", which allows citizens to be informed
promptly, easily, and responsibly about specific recycling issues. Users can also, in a matter of
seconds, send photos and comments on specific recycling issues, using their mobile phone.
The application is available for iOS and Android and is downloadable from free online stores.
The app was developed using open-source software. Specifically, for the visualization of data
Google Maps was used in conjunction with open-source CMS.
4.3
Best practice example “Rewarding Packaging Recycling”
The best known IT solution within the Extended Producer Responsibility is from a Producer
Responsible Organisation named Rewarding Packaging Recycling (RPR) which established a
network of 51 “Recycling Houses” in major urban areas nationwide.
15
RPR runs an integrated separate collection system using a network of reverse vending
machines (RVM), namely Rewarding Recycling Centres (RRCs) or “Recycling Houses”, which
are installed in easily accessible public areas. Each RRC occupies a space area of approximately
11 m2 and is designed to accept packaging waste of essentially four waste streams: plastics,
metal, glass and paper/cardboard, while recently there has been an extra provision in some
of the RRCs for packaging wood (mainly pallets). RRC keeps the disposed materials separated
and reduces their size (smashing for glass, pressing for cans and pressing or shredding for
plastics) while providing a monetary reward to its users (1€ for every 33 units), which is either
offered as a discount voucher in cooperating supermarkets or can be donated to charities.
The PRO supervises waste management operations such as collection, transfer, treatment,
personnel and equipment maintenance, which are offered by contractors. Furthermore, the
PRO is responsible for reporting the data to EOAN (Greek Recycling Organization).
Collaborating municipalities are responsible for the provision of electricity for the operation
of the equipment when it is installed in public places.
The PRO achieved a new Guinness World Record for the "most glass bottles recycled in one
week” and the second Guinness World Record for the "most plastic bottles recycled in one
week". The first mobile “Recycling House” worldwide, the operation of which is based on solar
energy, was created in 2020 so the service be deployed across the Athens Riviera.
4.4
Final Assessment
IT solutions in Greece have been partially implemented during pilot projects. Over the last two
years some municipalities have started applying smart technologies in order to optimise
mainly waste management collection and separation, but a lot of things need to be done in
the near future in order to achieve the targets of the revised NWMP. The research projects
currently running are promising. However, their results have not been evaluated yet. The new
economic instrument, i.e. pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) that is to be implemented in the near
future, according to the revised NWMP, demands many technological changes to be
established on a regular basis.
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5
Netherlands: State of Digitalization in Municipal Waste
Management
5.1
Organisation of the Dutch Municipal Waste Management
In the Netherlands waste is collected from households by or on behalf of municipalities. As
waste from shops and similar establishments is often collected at the same time as household
waste, a (small) proportion will not originate from households. Waste is collected door-to-
door. This also includes (bulky) household residual waste collected via (underground)
collection containers. Recyclable waste is dropped off at street facilities (such as glass
containers), municipal yards or environmental streets.
Within the public policy framework for household waste 2025 (VANG-HHA, 2014), Dutch
politics committed to the transition towards a circular economy and to close the raw materials
and material chains as much as possible. The ambition is that in 2020 a maximum of 100 kg of
coarse and fine residual waste per inhabitant per year will go into final processing
(incineration). By 2025, this should be further reduced to a maximum of 30 kg of residual
waste per year.
The implementation programme includes various lines of action to achieve greater waste
separation and less household waste:
• Chain parties working together to close chains. The chain approach focuses primarily
on the products that are part of household waste in its end-of-life phase. Some
products are also found in other waste flows (e.g. office waste).
• Reducing the amount of material that leaves the chain as residual waste from
households reducing the amount of material leaving the chain as residual waste from
households.
• Making polluters pay. Companies and citizens are given space and market failures are
addressed.
• Stimulating and facilitating innovative companies and organisations to jointly
formulate a sustainable ambition and take concrete steps to implement that
ambition.
The polluter-pays principle was implemented with the DIFTAR fee scheme which most
municipalities are using. DIFTAR is the abbreviation of differentiated tariffs, meaning
households or legal entities pay different tariffs for different types of waste based on
amounts. The more residual and other waste there is that cannot be recycled, the higher the
waste collection charge will be. Conversely, offering less waste results in a lower variable
waste disposal charge, but the fixed charge remains the same.
In 2019 a Dutch household paid €244 on average per year for the municipality’s waste
management service. But fees vary extremely from municipality to municipality.
Municipalities with low waste management costs have generally introduced tariff
differentiation on waste supply (diftar). In DIFTAR municipalities inhabitants generally
separate their waste more consistently, which results in lower residual waste.
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5.2
IT solutions used in Municipal Waste Management
In the Netherlands, there are several providers offering complete waste management
solutions for municipal environmental and cleaning services. These include advanced
technological solutions for household waste collection, route planning, vehicle technology
(roadside and RFID), summer and winter services and customer support. The providers have
built their own platforms that support supplier management, service level monitoring,
dynamic reporting and analysis. This enables municipalities to make the most efficient use of
available budgets by optimising routes, managing containers and visualising collection in real
time. It provides real-time access to customer and service data so that queries can be dealt
with immediately. This minimises (missed) emptying rounds and improves customer service.
They provide individual, password-protected access to an environment where configurable,
customer-specific information is stored. This includes collection frequency, service history,
additional services available, complaints or questions, changes or messages, and if applicable,
account and invoice status, including statements, invoices and online payment options.
Mobile and vehicle solutions
Vehicle solutions can be tailored to the functional requirements and budget of each
municipality. Route data is read from tablets. Driving instructions and interaction with
administration are supported, as is vehicle technology for monitoring service performance,
either stand-alone or in combination with RFID. A number of suppliers also provide their own
certified weighing system for waste collection that is fully integrated into the back-office
solution of ERP systems. Payment is based on weight/frequency (diftar), or recycling
monitoring programmes.
Blockchain solution for supervision of cross-border waste transportation
To reduce the supervision costs related to European waste transportation, the Dutch Ministry
wanted to combine Blockchain technology with existing IT-systems. This way the inspection
authorities can automate a significant portion of their tasks. This frees up knowledge and
expertise for other important tasks that cannot be performed without human assistance (yet).
The proof of concept of the Blockchain application is meant to demonstrate that Blockchain
technology can be used to create efficiency and transparency within the cross-border waste
transportation process in the EU. Besides, it is meant to reduce the supervision costs related
to European waste transportation. The Blockchain attributes are:
• Permit requests are checked, verified and accepted through an artificial intelligence
expert machine.
• Scales connected through Internet of Things devices communicate weight to the
process and the permit.
• Permit data is shared with all stakeholders and determines the next tasks in the
process on the Blockchain.
5.3
Best practice examples
OpenWaste - one collection platform for PROs
Due to extended producer responsibility in the commercial waste market, various waste
collectors (producer responsible organisations) drive the same route in city centres to serve
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their own customers. Often, they also drive behind each other in connection with delivery
window times. By bundling the collection of commercial waste by different collectors and
collecting it with a neutral refuse lorry, the number of transport movements in difficult inner
city areas can be reduced by more than 60 per cent without the end customer noticing a thing.
OpenWaste facilitates central registration for PRO-participants in the joint collection of
industrial waste in an inner city or business park by a single neutral vehicle (White Label). This
results in less traffic and less harmful emissions (CO2, NOx and fine dust).
Municipality of Apeldoorn - Recycleservice 2025
The key elements of Recycleservice 2025 are: reversed collection with high-level service on
separated resources and pay-as-you-throw for residual waste. Reversed collection means
high-level service on recyclables (kerb-side collection via wheelie-bins) and low service on
residual waste (people take it to drop-off points). If people choose a higher-level service on
fine residual waste (wheelie-bin at home), bins can be emptied at notice, but they pay a higher
waste fee
The first results obtained following the implementation of the new policy in only half of the
city of Apeldoorn are very promising. Coming from 123kg of fine residual waste per capita and
a 66% separation rate in 2017, fine residual waste dropped to 89kg per capita and the
separation rate went up to 74% (WINPOL, 2019, p. 53).
Municipality of Amsterdam - object detection to recognize the littering of waste
From early 2020 a more dedicated team (Ontwikkelteam Openbare Ruimte) started to work
on the productive and upscale use of the Objectdetection-Kit. This started with the
deployment of Objectdetection-Kit in an approach to reduce and prevent the littering of waste
around waste containers. In one neighbourhood there is a daily scan on waste. This
neighbourhood has 300 locations with waste containers and it lasts 2 hours to scan everything.
This provides insights in the littered locations. At this moment Amsterdam uses the data of
multiple weeks to define the most problematic locations. These locations are then subject to
concrete measures such as extra campaign or street coaches (WINPOL, 2019, p. 20).
City of Amsterdam – sharing waste data with the public
Amsterdam has an open and real-time data portal for waste. It has an agreement with each
supplier that the data collected belongs to the public, is accessible and understandable.
Stakeholders and suppliers can easily access necessary data. Amsterdam achieved valuable
data for different workers in the city: e.g. city planners, law enforcers, social workers. They all
can use the data to enhance their activities. (WINPOL, 2019, p. 29).
5.4
Final assessment
In the Netherlands, the attention given to the circular economy and the concrete 100-kilogram
target for household residual waste in the public framework have made many municipalities
work on plans for diftar and/or reverse collection. There are also many plans for post-
collection. Almost half of the municipalities have already introduced diftar and/or reverse
collection, and some forty are working with a combination of source and post-separation.
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There are also some hurdles and dilemmas to report. Many residents and administrators
believe that source separation is no longer necessary, which undermines the plans in that
direction. But post-separation is not a solution for paper, glass and especially not for VGF. The
organic waste component is, to a small extent, in fact fermented during post-separation and
converted into biogas, but there is not yet a circular solution for the remaining (contaminated)
digestate. In addition, the PMD from post-separation cannot easily be used as a really high-
grade raw material, particularly because of the separation problems, pollution and odour
caused by the organic waste.
Another obstacle to urban circularity is the regulations and agreements that prevent
municipalities from taking care of industrial waste that resembles household waste. This
results in major disadvantages such as inefficient collection, inconvenience caused by the
many collection vehicles and, above all, poor separation and recycling of industrial waste. It
seems that the Netherlands is a negative exception in this respect internationally. So, there
are considerable opportunities here.
On the other hand, there is a lot of attention given to circularity, which is high on the municipal
agenda. Digital innovations are currently limited to IoT and data collection, for insight, more
efficient administrative processes and especially for route optimisation. The use of technology
is still fragmented and little or none of it is geared towards closing the chain.
Blockchain applications in municipal waste are not yet available, but it is expected that with
further digitalisation and technologization of the industry, these applications will not be long
in coming.
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6
Spain: State of Digitalization in Municipal Waste Management
6.1
Organisation of Municipal Waste Management in Spain
In Spain, the management of household urban waste is mainly the responsibility of local
authorities and, to a greater or lesser extent, the Autonomous Communities. The challenge
faced by administrations is to articulate efficient management models that allow them to
comply with the obligations and legal objectives derived from the multiple and diverse
community, national and autonomous community legislations that affect this waste.
The control, inspection and surveillance systems have improved in recent years, but are still
insufficient. In this area, it is worth highlighting the action of the Nature Protection Service
(SEPRONA), with which the administrations must cooperate closely.
At state level, Spain does not have any incentive system that rewards municipalities and
households for preventing or reducing waste production. Fees for waste collection in Spain
vary geographically and range between 25 and 52€ per year. Taking into account that the
average gross annual salary in Spain is 24,009.12 € according to the INE, the expenditure
incurred in the local waste collection fee varies between 0.10% and 0.22%, which is a low fee.
Despite the low fees illegal dumps are growing exponentially in the country.
Within the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme some PROs established a deposit system
for recyclable waste rewarding citizens for returning containers after use. In Valencia, the
reward is the recharge of virtual balance or "reciclos" in return for each container recycled
either to conventional yellow containers or to special deposit machines installed at stations,
shopping and leisure centers. The reward of "reciclos" is redeemable for transport vouchers,
voucher spent in local stores or for the use of electric scooters.
6.2
IT solutions used in Municipal Waste Management
At state, regional or local levels, there are no public funding programs in Spain to support
digitization in waste management. Cities, communities and municipalities have been trying to
involve themselves in EU projects to get funding for innovative solutions. Otherwise, the
innovation process is driven by the commercial sector.
IoT – Smart bins and trucks
Regarding IoT for waste management, many waste managers are making use of this tool.
Some cities, such as Seville or Barcelona, have already opted for the development of this type
of innovative solutions, achieving significant cost savings and also reducing CO2 emissions and
inconveniences caused by waste collection traffic or disturbances of people's rest.
The company Hirisens, an environmental control operator specializing in the search for
technological solutions based on the Internet of Things, has developed a new service called
Hiriwaste. This solution is based on the placement of a sensor in waste containers and its
subsequent connection to its IoT platform, which operates in web format. This allows to
visualize the status of each container in real time. It enhances process the efficiency of
collection, helps to optimise collection routes and leads to an increase in user satisfaction. The
system can also be adapted to other types of waste.
Sharing of waste data via platform and data analysis tools
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As for Big Data, Minsait together with Ecoembes, the entity in charge of managing the
recovery and recycling of plastics, cans and bricks, and cardboard and paper in Spain, created
a data platform designed for stakeholders of the waste chain to share access to data in 2018.
Data analysis tools transform raw data into knowledge for public managers, who use it for
better planning and decision-making when, for example, establishing dynamic collection
routes which can be adapted to the increase or decrease of waste per route or per container,
depending on the time of year or the demographic composition of the area, thanks to the
estimates made on the basis of the data collected.
Pilot applications of Blockchain technology
Heura together with Signeblock applied the Blockchain technology to the recycling of
agricultural waste. It is a solution to ensure traceability and optimization of the management
of packaging used in agricultural processes, enhancing environmental protection and the
generation of efficient circular economy models.
At the beginning of 2021 Ecoembes and Minsait announced the deployment of a Blockchain
network to increase transparency and encourage collaboration in the Circular Economy. This
is a project that has involved a major technological innovation challenge and will have a
notable impact on environmental sustainability. This network of distributed registries will
make it possible to help public administrations, local entities, operators, recyclers and other
organizations to securely share and control all the data in the system and speed up all
transactions linked to the waste sorting process.
Several smart phone apps for assistance
There is a wide variety of mobile applications mostly offered by PROs available for assisting
citizens’ in recycling:
• App "Recicla y suma" (Recycle and add up), which pays Spaniards for recycling. The
company PENSUMO, promoter of innovative business models framed in the Circular
Economy and Top SDG 8 of the Spanish Global Compact Network, bursts in with a new
simple but powerful proposal: "You recycle, we pay".
• App "RECICLA" informs registered users on how prepaid recycling and what waste is
in demand. It will start with one million to be spent on prepaid recycling (from 0.02€
and up to 1€). The process is initiated by a photo sent through the app in which the
material to be recycled appears with the container in the background.
• App “EMTRE” is tested in the Valencian Community by the Metropolitan Entity for
Waste Treatment (EMTRE), informing users on how to get to the nearest ecopark,
how many times they have been to the ecopark during the last months or what kind
of waste that is to be recycled they have produced.
6.3
Best practice examples
Municipality Gijón – identification of user of eco parks
The practice consists of the installation of access control mechanisms and deposit registration
in a civic amenity site (CAS). The system enables control of access using an identification card.
In addition, users must register the type of waste to be deposited as well as its quantity.
In order to be able to control entries to civic amenity sites and the deposits of citizens and
companies, it is necessary to set up an access control system. This allows control of what is
22
delivered, by whom and how often. It enables blocking access to users misusing the service.
In the future, it could facilitate the implementation of a pay-as-you-throw system.
Municipality Gijón – smart phone apps
EMULSA has developed two free mobile apps for the city of Gijón - the Citizen app and the
Reusapp – and a map of sustainable businesses as part of its Strategic Business Plan and the
Municipal Waste Management Plan of Gijón. The main goal is to achieve the 50% of reuse and
recycling target set by the European Union for the year 2020. These three projects also
prevent miscommunication with citizens.
COGERSA SAU - “COOMIDA” -App facilitates food donations
COOMIDA is an innovative technological and cooperative tool aimed to ease food donation
(including surplus food), thus reducing food waste. COOMIDA connects local donors, food
banks, volunteers, and charities through a collaborative network for an efficient and
sustainable management of food donations. COOMIDA allows donors and charities to keep
contact directly; therefore, it can reduce time, emissions and expenditure. COOMIDA also
allows to recover little and remote donations that otherwise could exceed the Food Bank
capacity.
6.4
Final assessment
Although there is no central government funding programme for the digitalization of
municipal waste management, there are a considerable number of decentralised local
initiatives by municipalities or regions with innovative approaches. These decentralised
solutions should be systematically promoted and their transferability to other regions should
be examined. Many of the initiatives come from the private sector or are based on the
voluntary commitment of NGOs. Overall, there is a positive trend towards changing
environmental behaviour, although this trend could still be supported by increased use of new
technologies.
With the increased use of IoT, be it on refuse vehicles or in refuse bins, the foundation has
been laid for a future connection to a blockchain database.
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7
Benchmarking findings with other studies
In the following, the results of the preceding analysis of the status quo in digital
transformation in waste management in five countries are compared with the results of other
countries.
7.1
EIONET Report “Digital Waste management”
The 2020 EIONET Report by Berg and Sebestyén (2020) entitled “Digital Waste management”
analyses the status quo, opportunities and risks resulting from the digital transformation of
the waste management sector. The main drivers of digitalization in the waste sector are seen
in the following factors:
• cost pressure, as competition between public and private waste services is high and
digitalization is seen as a tool to save costs
• emerging new business models created by technology-driven start-ups.
• customers expecting to have near-time information on status of orders and wishing
to monitor their utilities
• the shift towards a circular economy combined with increasing legal pressure and
targets from the EU and national policies
• the climate crisis forcing reduction of greenhouse gases
• Extended Producer Responsibility triggering current materials management policies
in the corporate sector; EPR schemes expected to be applied to more products to
meet political goals
• growing urbanization increasing pressure within cities
The authors identified three main areas of digitalization in municipal waste management:
communication, waste collection and internal processes, and provided examples of digital
application in the respective field – cf table below.
Figure 5: Main areas of digitalization in municipal waste management (source: Berg and Sebestyén,
2020, p. 23)
24
According to Berg and Sebestyén (2020) “Communication technology makes up the biggest
part of digital solutions already in use in the waste sector. Here the transfer from other sectors
is easy because the necessary investment in hardware is relatively low.“ In the area of waste
collection processes, the use of IoT should be emphasized; this concerns, on the one hand,
the use of sensors in the waste bin (smart bins) or on the waste collection vehicle. In the
internal processes of waste management, digitalization is used to automate process flows
towards paperless documentation and registration. Ultimately, this is the digital
transformation that has already taken off in the private sector for several years.
The illustration of a waste truck with all the possibilities of using IoT solutions gives an
excellent overview of the digitalization of the waste collection process.
Figure 6: IoT solutions integrated in the waste truck (source: Berg and Sebestyén, 2020, p. 22)
When benchmarking the EIONET results with the results of the analysis from five countries,
the following similarities can be observed. Ultimately, all digitalization projects fall into the
categories defined by EIONET: communication, waste collection and internal processes. Little
was reported on the digitalization efforts related to internal processes, which is ultimately due
to the lack of transparency about the efficiency of public organisations and their processes.
The country reports confirm the positive role of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme,
which is also identified as a key driver of innovation. Two aspects are missing from the EIONET
reports, but emerge from the country reports: Communication with customers or users and
digitalization of waste collection processes are mutually dependent. Without intensive
upstream communication with users, further digitalization of the processes is hardly possible.
The second point is the target of setting incentives for changes in user behavior. In the country
reports, there are certain projects that deal precisely with the design of incentives via digital
solutions. Communication, incentivisation and digitalization should be considered in context.
25
7.2
WINPOL Project “Waste Management Intelligent Systems and Policies”
WINPOL is a European project funded under the Interreg Europe programme, that fosters the
use of intelligent equipment and policies in municipal waste management. Since June 2018,
nine partners across Europe – eight public authorities represented by the municipalities of
Antwerp (BE), Drobeta Turnu Severin (RO), Heraklion (GR), the county of Mehedinti (RO), the
region of Crete (GR), EMULSA (ES), Snaga (SI), ERA (MT) and ACR+ (BE) as advisory partner –
have been cooperating in this 4.5-year project.
In 2019 WINPOL (2019) published a “Good Practice Guide” listing 26 best practice examples
in municipal waste management all over Europe. A screening of the 26 good practice examples
listed, according to the following three categories (1) incentives (PAYT etc. fee model or other
incentives), (2) communication with the users and (3) digitalization of the waste collection
process confirms the statement of the EIONET report as well as the results from the preceding
five country reports. Most projects relate to communication with users via digital media and
to the optimization of the waste collection process through the use of IoT.
Figure 7: Main areas of digitalization in best practice projects (source: screening based on project data
of WINPOL, 2019)
It is striking that two of the listed WIPOL projects involve data sharing with stakeholders in
the waste chain over an information platform. Such data sharing and data analysis projects
are also reported by certain countries (Greece and Spain). This indicates a need for common
data pools and a move away from building one’s own databases ("data silos"), which requires
complex interfaces for the automatic exchange of data.
Best Practise Project Incentive Communi ca tion Waste Collection Others
1Civi c Ameni ty site acc ess control x
2Connecting online wi th users: Citize n app, Sus tainable businesses map and Reusapp x
3Container se nsors for optimize d was te colle ction x
4Custome r portal for col lected bulky waste at civ ic a menity sites x
5Electronic closure on waste containers and use of information x x
6Information-based waste collection x x
7Mobil e ap p on bul ky w aste for r euse and recy clin g x
8Operating aid system and waste collection weighing x
9Route optimization for waste collection
10 Sharing data on waste and resources with the public x
11 Smart bins to recycle anytime, anywhere x
12 Solar compact waste bins x
13 Was te m ana geme nt da tace nter x
14 Was te m ana geme nt da ta w are house x
15 COOMIDA – Reduc ing sur plus food w aste and food ne eds x x
16 From door-to-door c ollection to pa y-as-you-throw x
17 G’scheit feiern – Reducing waste of events and festivals x
18 Pay-as-you-throw to reach 80% recycling x
19 Pop-up civic amenity sites x x
20 Rais ing aw arenes s on pl astic waste with the CAPS Conte st x x
21 Recy cles ervi ce 20 25 – A rev erse d waste colle ction s ystem for res idual w aste x x x
22 Reus e Box – New c ollec tion sc heme for reusa ble ite ms x
23 Second Chance – Reuse on marketplaces x
24 Smart collection system to optimise used cooking oil to the biodiesel value chain x
25 The Coll ection – I mproving tex tile waste c ollection x
26 Treatme nt of biodegrada ble was te x
sum 412 15 1
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7.3
WasteIQ - a case study from Norway
The following case study, WasteIQ, is remarkable in that it takes a holistic approach,
combining several aspects: The use of IoT in smart bins or containers, data storage and
analysis on a common platform (data sharing with stakeholders) and an incentive system,
which also includes behavioural economics components of nudging.
WasteIQ is an open waste management platform that integrates with modern digitized waste
management equipment to enable a customized waste pricing model. The project originated
in a collaboration between BIR (municipal waste management organisation in Bergen,
Norway) and a digital startup, WasteIQ.
The system runs the different stations for residual waste and recyclables in Bergen that are
equipped with digital locks and sensors. Some of the inlets are also connected to an
underground vacuum system that automatically moves the waste to a central collection
terminal.
Figure 8: WasteIQ – data platform (source: https://www.iswa.org/home/news/news-
detail/article/guest-blog-the-4th-industrial-revolution-in-practice-wasteiq-the-open-waste-
management-platf/109/)
WasteIQ has developed a system that gathers data, enriches it and distributes the data to a
variety of actors and technical systems. The IT system aggregates data on disposal volumes
for individual households and businesses. It also provides an overview of containers’ waste
levels and indicates when they should be emptied. Furthermore, the waste management
system is capable of weighing and calculating each citizen’s waste consumption and utilizes
the data to enable an individualized payment system in order to motivate the reduction of
personal waste levels. Bin stations have free sorting bins for plastics and cardboard. This
further nudges Bergen’s citizens to sort their waste properly. The combination of smart
containers, data collection and new economic incentives has so far decreased the level of
general waste by 10% and increased the level of plastics collection by 29%.
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Readiness for Blockchain applications in waste management
The results of the country studies and the comparison with other studies show that the
digitalization process in the municipal waste sector is still in its infancy. Or else, with the
authors of the EIONET report (Berg & Sebestyén, 2020) putting it more diplomatically: It shows
that the waste management sector is in an early phase in this development. The opportunities
as well as the impact of its digital transformation are still emerging and can still be shaped.
There are a large number of innovative projects in the various countries in the areas of
communication with users, incentive systems and, in particular, the use of IoT in waste
collection, but there is no comprehensive promotion of these projects in the countries, neither
through state financial support programmes nor through the targeted transfer of know-how.
For now, it is only the associations of municipal public or private waste disposal companies
that are multipliers of information and hubs of innovation.
Figure 9: Lack of coherence in digital waste management projects
If focusing exclusively on the IT-tools used in projects, everything seems to be in place:
communication via smartphone apps with users, incentive structures and a multitude of data
about IoT use in smart bins and trucks. But most of the projects are isolated approaches to
implementing tools either for communication or for collecting data or for setting incentive
structures. What is missing is the connection between these tools: user data could be used to
create user profiles and establish profile-based communication with users, which also includes
the choice of appropriate incentives. The effectiveness of the incentives set in terms of
behavioural change can in return be measured against the household’s waste data.
Ultimately, it is a matter of a coherent approach to planning in the use of IT which consistently
prioritizes the solution of the problem (keyword “design thinking”).
Furthermore, most of the projects presented are also non-collaborative in nature with regard
to sharing data with a large number of stakeholder groups and to generating synergy effects
between the partners involved. But the circular economy, to be successful, requires
collaboration between stakeholders, be it producers, consumers, supermarkets,
municipalities or PROs, who need to share data in their collaboration.
This is exactly the point PwC (2016) emphasizes when writing:
Incentives
Communication
Data Collection
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“Collaborative technology, such as Blockchain, promises the ability to improve the business
processes that occur between companies, radically lowering the “cost of trust.” For this reason,
it may offer significantly higher returns for each investment dollar spent than traditional
internal investments.
So what’s the catch? You cannot get the return by yourself; you must be willing and able to
collaborate with customers, suppliers, and competitors in ways that you have never done
before.”
Therefore, the development and implementation of a Blockchain project consists largely of
change management and process management work. Contrary to expectations, the selection
of the technical Blockchain solution plays a subordinate role. Intensive communication,
understanding each other's interests, taking stakeholder and individuals along and convincing
them, explaining the technical possibilities of the Blockchain in simple terms - these are the
components of a successful project and the selection of project team members. (Lenz, 2019,
p. 46)
The digitalization projects described in municipal waste management are very much driven by
the use of new technology. The installation of telematics and IoT on waste trucks are typical
tasks of mechanical engineers. The accomplishment of these tasks is of utmost importance
for the smooth running of logistical processes within an organisation. But Blockchain is about
creating a win-win situation between stakeholders of a chain so that each of the partners
involved ends up benefiting from the collaboration.
When answering questions about the readiness of municipal waste management for the
Blockchain, we realize that solutions to technical problems are sometimes easier and quicker
to deal with than changing an entire organizational model with a view to close cooperation in
a network of partners. To finally answer the question about readiness for the application of
Blockchain technology, it can be stated that, yes, from a purely technical point of view, most
municipal waste management companies are up-to-date and use IoT extensively. What is
missing is a clear data strategy which includes the analysis and the sharing of data with a
variety of stakeholders. However, these are not technical problems but problems of the
organisational development of municipal waste management companies.
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