Page 35 - U4SSC Simple ways to be smart

3.2.4 Waste

Cities rapidly generate waste that can be difficult to dispose of given the concentration of many
people in urban areas. Waste removal and treatment has long been a core function of municipalities.

Traditionally cities collect waste from households and consolidate it for disposal. Households
may be required to take household waste to collection points. Many smart solutions have
been developed for improving waste collection in cities. These include systems that improve
the efficiency of truck routes and smart bins that notify the city when they need to be emptied.
While many of these systems are quite sophisticated there are also simpler versions. For example,
a city in Canada has added QR codes to bins that residents can scan to inform the city when the
bin is full. Such a solution avoids the potential of sensor or network failure and so might be more
reliable, if residents participate.

The traditional process of collection and removal of waste fails in cities where the waste generation
outstrips the resources of the city to effect collection. This is the case in many cities in the developing
world. Waste that is not collected pollutes living areas, or results in informal dumping with associated
health and environmental impacts.

The separation of waste into different recycling categories for treatment is an important element of
managing city waste. In cities where waste collection is ineffective, the informal sector contributes to
this process with informal “rubbish pickers” (as they are called in South Africa) collecting and selling
recyclable waste. For many cities, it has become necessary to harness the energy and inventiveness
of the informal sector to address recycling. Instead of being seen as a problem, informal waste
collection is now being seen as part of the solution. Case 4 tells how a small city in Colombia has
worked to formalise this work.

While such initiatives need not involve technology there have also been attempts to apply technology
to the problem. In India, Kabadiwallah Connect have developed apps to support informal sector
recycling. Their apps inform homeowners of waste separation and drop-off points, and they tell
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the informal waste collectors, known as Kabadiwallahs, where they can collect and sell their waste.

Case 3: Air quality monitoring

The problem

The combined effects of ambient (outdoor) and household air pollution cause about 7 million
premature deaths every year, largely due to stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary

disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections. Furthermore, urban pollution can extend

beyond cities, affecting agricultural areas that are vital for food security and income. The challenge
with air pollution is that it is mostly invisible, making it difficult to understand and make people
aware of the extent of the problem. 50

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