Municipal Street Waste Bins
Real‑time fill‑level monitoring for public bins to optimize collection and prevent overflow.
Overview
About Smart Waste
Smart Waste Bin technology is transforming urban waste management by using battery‑operated IoT sensors to continuously measure fill levels inside bins. Powered by high‑precision optical sensing and connected through LoRaWAN or NB‑IoT networks, these smart sensors transmit real‑time data to centralized Waste Management IoT platforms.
This enables municipalities and service providers to optimize collection routes, reduce operational costs, prevent overflow incidents, and improve overall city cleanliness through data‑driven decision‑making.
Where it’s deployed
Applications & Use Cases
Real-world environments where Smart Waste delivers measurable operational value.
High‑Rise & Mixed‑Use Building Waste Rooms
Tracks waste accumulation in towers to schedule pickups efficiently and maintain hygiene.
Construction Site Waste Containers
Monitors large temporary waste skips on construction sites, ensuring timely removal, preventing overfilling, and supporting compliance with site safety and environmental regulations.
Community & Gated‑Area Waste Bins
Provides accurate fill‑level data to reduce unnecessary trips and improve service quality.
Solution architecture diagram
How Smart Waste works, from sensor to cloud platform
Fill level is measured inside each container instead of being assumed from a fixed collection rota, so trucks are sent to bins that are actually full and skip the ones that are not.
01
Inside the bin
Field devices and placementUltrasonic fill level sensor
Distance to waste surface converted to percentage full
- Placement
- Under the bin or container lid
- Power
- Battery, multi year
Temperature and tilt sensing
Heat build up, fire risk, bin tipped or lid left open
- Placement
- Same sensor housing
- Power
- Battery
Container identity tag
Bin identity, location and service history
- Placement
- Bin body
- Power
- Passive
02
Wireless connectivity
Low power wide area networkLoRaWAN or NB-IoT
Bins report a small payload a few times per day, plus an immediate message when a threshold, a tilt or a temperature limit is crossed.
Gateways and network server
A small number of gateways cover a district of bins. The network server decodes fill readings and forwards them to the platform, holding traffic locally if the backhaul is interrupted.
03
Cloud platform
Storage, rules and reportingPlatform services
Device management, secure ingestion, time series storage, rules and alerting, role based access and open interfaces for integration with the systems already in use.
- Fill level history and fill rate per container
- Collection thresholds and overflow prediction
- Route lists generated from bins above threshold
- Fire risk, tilt and lid open alerts
- Service confirmation and missed collection reporting
04
Who acts on the data
Operations and reportingCollection crews
Daily route list of bins that need service, on a mobile view.
Waste operations
Container performance, overflow trends and contractor compliance.
Municipality
Cost, fuel and service level reporting per zone.
What it does
Key Features
Engineered for real-world municipal and operator deployments — built to scale.
Easy installation and dismantling
Our Wastebin sensor offers easy installation and dismantling, providing a hassle-free solution for Manhole management. With a user-friendly design and straightforward mounting process, it can be effortlessly installed in various Wastebins
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Long life time
Our Wastebin sensor is engineered for longevity, boasting an extended lifespan powered by a robust 38Ah battery. With this high-capacity battery, the sensor can operate reliably for an extended period, minimizing the frequency of battery replacements and ensuring continuous functionality.
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Supports NB-IoT or LoRaWAN
Our Wastebin sensor is equipped with versatile connectivity options, supporting both NB-IoT and LoRaWAN protocols. This dual-support ensures compatibility with a wide range of IoT networks, offering flexibility and scalability in deployment.
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Advance Sensing Module
These sensors are deployed within the Wastebin to measure the distance between the sensor and the waste surface. Using mmWave technology ensures accurate and reliable waste level measurements even in challenging environmental conditions.
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Real-Time Reporting
By analyzing historical data on waste levels, the IoT platform can predict when bins will reach capacity and schedule timely pickups. This minimizes overflow incidents, reduces the risk of littering, and ensures efficient waste collection.
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Questions
Smart Waste questions we are asked most
- How is bin fill level measured?
- An ultrasonic sensor under the lid measures the distance to the waste surface and converts it to a percentage full. The same housing reports temperature for fire risk and tilt for a bin that has been knocked over.
- How does this change collection routes?
- The platform lists containers that are above the agreed collection threshold, or predicted to reach it, so a route is built from real fill data instead of a fixed rota. Bins that are not full are skipped and reported as such.
- Do the sensors need cabling or power at the bin?
- No. The sensors are battery operated and fitted inside the existing container, so no civil works, cabling or bin replacement is needed.
Related reading: Smart City solutions, wireless technologies and smart cities industry page.
Smart City Specialist
Plan your Smart Waste deployment
Talk to our smart-city architects about pilots, integration, and operations.