Urbanisation has boomed over the last fifty years as more and more people moved to cities in search of better work opportunities and access to education and healthcare. Today, more than half of the world’s population live in urban areas, and this proportion is projected to be at 68% by 2050. As people continue to migrate from rural to urban destinations in the coming years, an increasing number of public services are expected to come under strain.

In particular, waste management – including the collection, processing and disposal of both residential and industrial waste — is expected to be a major challenge for city governments due to rapid population growth and urbanisation. The World Bank predicts that annual waste generation will reach 3.40 billion tonnes by 2050, a 70% increase since 2016. To tackle this potential crisis, a growing number of cities are now using innovative tools and technologies to process waste in an environmentally friendly manner and develop recycling systems.

 

 

Can 4IR Technologies Tackle Litter?

 

Technology has been part of waste management for years, but now digital innovations stemming from the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), deliver major improvements to the sector whilst also contributing to environmental protection and increased sustainability. Research by the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) found that 97% of its members believe the 4IR is likely to transform this industry by 2030. Furthermore, the World Bank has predicted that the market for AI solutions in waste disposal is expected to reach USD 2.37 billion by 2021, a growth of 16.9% since 2016.

 

 

Driven by a surge in smart city projects, a growing number of governments are utilising the 4IR technologies to reduce the amount of litter in cities. For example, in Singapore, manufacturer LionsBot International has developed fully autonomous cleaning robots for use in airports and hospitals. In the UAE, the Dubai Municipality has begun testing a fully automated waste collection system, where automated vehicles pick up empty bins and sterilise the containers. In addition, drone imagery is being used to automatically and rapidly detect discarded litter items in the United Kingdom. The data collected by drones can help governments identify the types of waste and take actions to prevent street littering, a critical issue given that it costs UK councils around 663 million pounds per year to keep streets clean.

 

 

Where waste cannot be recycled, technology can help reduce the impact of landfills on the environment. Methane gas and carbon dioxide are among the main landfill emissions and the two key gases contributing to global warming. To reduce their harmful effects, several organisations are using technology to transform emissions produced by solid waste into renewable sources of energy. For example, the United States-based Air Liquide recently announced plans to construct a gas purification plant that will convert methane to renewable energy capable of heating 4,500 homes per year. On the other hand, Australian company Propeller uses drones to collect and analyse data from landfills. This helps landfill operators to track and improve compaction rates, produce accurate compliance reports, and detect problem areas in advance.

 

 

In the industrial sector, AI technologies are used by enterprises to reduce the operational cost of waste management, improve its sustainability credentials, and enhance safety measures. With the help of deep learning technology, cameras and computer systems, robots in recycling plants can identify each waste item, pick it up and transfer it to the correct sorting bin. One such ‘optical sorter’ robot developed by Quebec-based Machinex can separate up to 3,000 objects per minute, whilst the Fast Picker robot by Finnish firm ZenRobotics can grab approximately 66 objects per minute. Both robots use magnets to extract metals, eddy currents to identify nonmagnetic materials and near-infrared light to help detect different grades of plastic. In doing so, these machines can work faster than an entire team of human workers and improve the recycling rates.

 

 

The climate crisis has been termed the greatest challenge of our time and rising levels of waste generated by populations, particularly those living in urban areas, is a major contributor to this problem. Although solving the issue requires deeper collaboration between the public and private sector and long-term policy measures, smart technologies that have emerged as a result of the 4IR could indeed provide efficient and unconventional solutions to tackle several aspects of this growing menace.