Page 9 - U4SSC Case study: City solid waste management, June 2020

Promoting circularity

Vision and content

True commitment to the circular economy requires the cooperation of all stakeholders: citizens, as the
main participants; local authorities; and the contractors that provide and operate municipal services. 5

The main objective of the SmartWaste project is to identify the relevant information for each of
the previous actors and provide it in a suitable format for decision making, as well as to enable the
implementation of initiatives to promote and facilitate the recycling of waste among citizens.

Citizens should, first of all, be well informed. They should know the details of how to recycle correctly,
how to separate the different types of waste and where to deposit each of them. Citizens should also
be aware of the importance and positive aspects of recycling for the environment. Furthermore, they
should know the products that can be obtained from their waste as a result of recycling. On the other
hand, they should have the necessary means to participate and to be able to report incidents associated
with the waste collection service, such as containers that have been overloaded, broken or burnt, or
even collected outside the planned schedule.

Municipal councils and other entities, such as consortia and associations of municipal councils should
ensure that waste collection and treatment services are carried out correctly and in compliance with
the service levels that have been agreed upon, and, when possible, to increase its efficiency. For this
purpose, SmartWaste provides local entities and their contractors with the necessary indicators to
carry out the management of the service and guarantee an adequate provision of it.

Through SmartWaste, a municipality can determine the optimal position of waste containers, depending
on the distance from the citizens, and combines information by integrating data from other systems, for
example, the average age of the population in a specific area. The exit indicators shown by SmartWaste
will also allow the determination of those neighbourhoods that are more efficient and those that are
not. This information is aimed at improving the quality and recycling rate.

Implementation

The project started a pilot phase in June 2018 with four management units: Consorcio de Aguas y
Residuos de la Rioja (CARE), municipality of Logroño, Cabildo de la Palma and Medio ambiente, Agua,
Residuos y Energia (MARE) of Cantabria.

Case study: City solid waste management, June 2020 3