Soon, ‘Smart Garbage Bins’ — which will sound an alert when they become full — will replace the regular ones in the city.
To make garbage management eco-friendly and keep the roads free from filth, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation has embarked on the pilot project of smart garbage bins also called the underground waste management system. The system, which mainly consists of three deep collection bins, sensors, GPS and an SMS alert system, has been installed near the Andhra Loyola College and is ready for use. Another system will be set up in a location closer soon.
“After observing the functioning of the system for at least a month, more will be set up. We are planning to replace about 200 old garbage bins with the new systems at an equal number of locations with the priority given to the main roads of the city,” Superintending Engineer P. Adiseshu told The Hindu .
The civic body is spending Rs. 9.5 lakh on each system and the project is being implemented by EcoGarb, a firm based out of Chennai. EcoGarb is the official representative of the Green World Group in India and has been implementing the project in the Arcot municipality of Tamil Nadu.
How does it work?
Each system consists of three colour coded bins and can together hold garbage weighing 4.5 tonnes. While each bin is 10 feet deep, 60 per cent is placed below the ground level with propylene durable bags inside so that the garbage is emptied easily.
Each bin is fitted with an ultrasonic sensor which sends alerts to the desired receiver like specially designed trucks and the control centre when the bin gets 90 per cent full. As the bins are also fitted with GPS location, they can be identified at the control centre. The specially designed trucks will be able to lift the propylene bags and empty them.
More than 550 tonnes of garbage is generated in the city daily and garbage management has been the most crucial task for the civic body. About 60 trucks are already fitted with GPS for efficient management.
The VMC earlier tried a similar kind of ‘Underground Smart Bins (USB)’ proposed by a city-based start-up but dumped it due to reasons not known. However, the USB could help the VMC deal only with cleanliness and did not have the SMS alert system.
