As a part of life, producing garbage is a daily occurrence, and to this day still needs to be addressed better. As the population grows, trash is an ongoing problem that has been deteriorating the environment and people's health. We need to transition to smart solutions to address waste management correctly.

According to the Sustainable Development Goals report, in 2022, an average of 82% of municipal solid waste was being collected globally, and 55% was being managed in controlled facilities. In affluent countries, the direction is better but insufficient, as it is where more consumerism exists. Developing countries have more difficulties investing in infrastructure, so many still rely on open landfills.

Global sustainability will only be accomplished with a joint effort between governments, industries, and organizations. Digital transformation is essential to handle this situation best because it will help us achieve sustainable models from now on.

Sustainability is necessary to repair environmental challenges. But it is no longer just for that reason; it is a new fundamental aspect of any business, as is an increased importance to investors, customers, and employees, who are increasingly concerned about social responsibility.

Public-private cooperation can provide broader initiatives to accelerate sustainable development. Allowing the private sector to develop commercial opportunities within the waste management industry can encourage investment to activate change. It is also an excellent way to promote the ideals of sustainable business and conscious capitalism.

Why Waste Management Is a Crucial Problem?

This year is a crucial time for acknowledging the guidelines of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were established globally to fight for a sustainable future for people and the planet.

Let's remember that, at COP 26, countries agreed to launch a two-year program to achieve the Global Goals of The Paris Agreement. Then, at COP 27, countries decided on establishing guidelines to achieve these goals that will be discussed leading up to COP 28, where they will be considered and adopted.

A more significant commitment is needed to achieve these (also called) Global Goals. Businesses worldwide are already trying to adopt more sustainable systems and procedures by making them part of their mission and values. But there is still a long way to go; as we mentioned, cooperation between government, industries, and organizations takes time.

In addition, this can give organizations a new opportunity for their growth and revenue, as they will become a key piece in global sustainable development.

What Are the Current Inefficiencies and Challenges in Waste Management?

There is still inadequate waste management globally, showing all the following problems:

• Poor waste collection and management in many regions of the planet (even prosperous countries) is inefficient and leads to garbage accumulation and unsanitary conditions.
• Overflowing landfills. Waste nowadays is a global business, and many developing countries have become the dump site of more prosperous countries without having the infrastructure and funding to handle this challenge or address environmental concerns.
• Lack of recycling and composting is a big part of the problem. Still, a significant amount of trash ends up in landfills instead of being recycled. According to the World Economic Forum, 5% of things you recycle actually get recycled.
• Illegal dumping is an additional issue to waste disposal. It is a big problem in some regions, provoking environmental degradation and health hazards for local populations and wildlife.
• Financial costs are a critical problem, mostly in developing countries, making it difficult to have proper systems and procedures for this global task. Traditional waste management is costly due to waste collection, disposal, and environmental cleanup.

What Are the Benefits of a Smart Waste Management System?

Currently, most waste management systems are outdated or have unnecessary and time-consuming steps that result in high costs.

Using smart solutions for waste management can solve current and future problems by developing better systems, like creating a more efficient path for garbage trucks by placing IoT sensors to indicate when they actually need emptying. A customized embedded system in a city can allow businesses, organizations, and individuals to benefit from it.

Other main benefits of adopting a smart waste management system are:

• Time-saving
  Planning better routes for garbage collection will permit less time on the road, solving traffic congestion and unnecessary use of vehicles, also meaning less contamination. In addition, having everything digitalized will save staff time and traveling, as diagnostics can be done remotely.
• Improved efficiency
  The goal of smart solutions is to use resources efficiently. Therefore, having data in real-time allows us to make decisions faster and more accurately. Make a possible plan and take action before an over-saturation of containers.
• Cost-saving
  Increasing trash causes a higher waste collection and handling rate. But we can avoid unnecessary waste truck travel and reduce the expenses in waste collection overall. Instead, we could assign this money to other operations, like new recycling procedures that will provide future earnings.
• Sustainability
  Overload bins pollute the environment, and landfills greatly damage territories and put people's health at risk. By optimizing routes and collection processes, we can eliminate these risks, as well as reduce carbon footprint emissions. If we can get cities to lower their consumption, we could achieve the SDG goals.
• Transparency and accountability
  If waste management gets digitized, it shows how and when waste is being handled. Monitoring the whole process can avoid the misuse of the city assets, and the data can be of public access so citizens can build trust in their public administration.
• Social awareness
  People are getting more interested in how our habits and products affect our lives globally. But it will be of great importance to have public access to information so that we can all have a good understanding of our own habits and become more committed to reducing trash and recycling.

How to Apply Smart Solutions for Waste Management?

The use of technology and innovation is an excellent opportunity to handle this situation in cities, industries, and companies. As we adopt newer and better systems, we enable all of them to become more intelligent, therefore, more efficient and able to save on resources.

In an organization, a good waste management strategy can give good results; in understanding company habits, optimizing the use of assets, creating better company practices, and achieving cost savings.

An easy example is that most companies don’t have control over the number of containers they have. They don’t know where they are located, nor when they are full or when they have been emptied for the last time. Missing data is a big-missed opportunity to leverage existing information. Simply mapping them will give more control to know when they are full or need to be emptied to optimize company assets and resources.

As an example, you could initialize a smart strategy with an IoT-embedded system by considering the following aspects:

• Adopt technology that will give you the infrastructure and innovation you need. To develop the smart solutions your business needs and to keep complete control of your company processes and resources.
• Conduct a waste audit, starting by counting the assets, types, and volumes of generated waste.
• Set specific, measurable, and achievable goals for waste reduction; by analyzing the data generated by the audit. (Such as improved speed of pick-up)
• Implement a plan to increase recycling, focusing on materials with recovery potential, such as paper, food waste, glass, or cardboard.
• Invest in your infrastructure for waste collection, storage, processing, etc., including containers and sorting equipment.
• Train your team; on good practices for waste reduction and recycling; and how to use the technology to work with it.
• Track and monitor progress. With the data generated, have complete control over the performance of the procedures, such as route maps, waste reduction, recycling, composting, etc.
• Stay up-to-date with regulations, continuous evaluation and improvement of your waste management plan, and technology implementation.

A Technology Partnership is Key to Reach Your Goals

Having an embedded system to plan and manage waste will help to have feedback in real time and a complete report on how your company works. Also, it will make optimal changes for the better functioning of your waste management via the proper digital infrastructure.

At IoE Corp, we have the vision to provide an innovative, efficient, and sustainable technology system that can help to achieve the smart solutions you need to improve your business and your customers' experience.

We created the Eden Planet Partner Program. A complete system-support program to build and grow businesses, providing the best innovative technology and support to train your team and tap your resources at 100 percent.

We offer the best technology for embedded systems to run your IoT sensors in the best way. Our system Eden is a decentralized infrastructure that runs and stores data securely, effectively, and sustainably.

Eden is Innovation and Efficiency

Eden is an alternative to the cloud; it is a decentralized infrastructure where you can process and store your data without needing to move it to a central server.

Eden gives you security and functionality, as it is safer and faster to manage data locally. It is safer because it is harder to attack the many connected nodes; instead of a single central one. If any of the nodes fails, the network will stay operational. Also, access to data and analysis is faster, as you can do it locally and in real-time, close to where the data was generated.

It provides transparency, trust, and shared authority. Because every node is connected through an encrypted blockchain, giving an identical copy of the data for verification; and the same access and authority.

Aligning your company values towards innovation and sustainability will prepare your business infrastructure for growth, as it will contribute to the global effort for a safer and more collaborative planet.

Let's begin the journey. We would love to have you join our program. Please apply here.