Waste monitoring helps Ekocharita reduce costs by 20%

A textile waste company has significantly improved its waste collection services by monitoring the fill-levels of 600 of its containers in real-time via smart sensors

In a pilot smart bin project, a textile waste collection company reduced its waste collection costs by 20%. Ekocharita started installing waste sensors sourced from software developer Sensoneo in January 2021.

By the end of June, the company was able to establish-from data gleaned from 600 containers-that the use of sensors helped decrease the collection time for 1 tonne of textile waste by 30%, reduced overall waste collection costs by 20% whilst rendering the overall logistics of the operation more smooth. Ekocharita manages 1300 containers for clothes, shoes, toys and home textiles within an area of 16000 km².

Waste collection for textile waste is complicated by the fact that consumers bring unwanted clothes to collection depots or drop-off locations at irregular times. As such, it is difficult for waste drivers to predict when bins will be full-this renders the logistical operation of waste collection difficult, putting managers under high financial as well as time pressure. Real-time online monitoring via sensors could help streamline the process while reducing costs.

The deployed Sensoneo sensors monitor container fill levels 24 times per day. They also provide fire and tilt alarms whilst monitoring temperature.