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”No reader’s letters in ”Øboen” regarding a lack of emptying of waste containers is the goal, and that still holds”, Thomas Strandmark says with a twinkle in his eye. He is the operations manager for waste at Langelands Forsyning A/S, where the use of small digital sensors from Maacks to surveil the fill levels in the individual waste containers have been a part of operations since 2019.
In the holiday home areas on Langeland, there are no longer problems with overflowing waste containers, and along with the transition to collection points, Langelands Forsyning has been able to reduce one waste collection truck. At the same time, it is a very reliable solution.
Replacing manual routines
Previously, an employee from Langelands Forsyning had to make a 176 km round trip on the island to check the containers at 50 environmental stations. It took a day and a half and resulted in a paper report with an overview of the fill levels in the individual waste containers.
Based on this, a driver could plan a trip to empty the relevant containers. It was not only a cumbersome process, but it could also vary depending on who was to assess the fill levels.
”We used way too much time on inspecting the municipality’s environmental station”, says operations manager Thomas Strandmark today, and he is happy to tell about the new solution and the process.
A total of 220 digital fill level sensors
Langelands Forsyning approached the task systematically. They initially installed about ten fill level sensors and have now reached a total of 220 sensors that register the fill levels in the island’s waste containers.
Today, there are about 30 waste collection points around the island, covering, among other areas, all holiday homes with 2,300 households. Each collection point has 6-7 waste containers, and in total, 10 fractions are handled – amounting to 220 containers in all. To make the collection more efficient, glass and metal are collected in one fraction.
Driving according to fill percentages
The specialists at Maacks have not only delivered the individual sensors, but also the BrainyBins® Dynamic Route platform, which can collect data from all waste containers via the cloud. The operations manager can with the system generate an emptying route, which minimises driving with the heavy trucks – thus reducing the costs and CO2emission.
Through an app, the driver can see the collection route and, for example, the current fill levels for the individual waste containers.
– BrainyBins® is a strong tool, which has streamlined our emptying of waste containers. It is easy to use and gives an overview, so we have been able to delegate the organising of the trips to our driver – he is now completely self-sufficient,” says manager of operations, Thomas Strandmark.
Every sixth hour, the fill levels are automatically updated. Normally, a waste container is added to the service route when it has a fill level of 80-90 per cent. However, every Wednesday, the data is checked one additional time for containers that might be critical over the weekend in, for instance, holiday home areas.
Langelands Forsyning has a service truck with a trailer for emptying waste containers, and it can handle four fractions at a time. Additionally, there are three trucks for daily waste collection.
Reliable operation
At Langelands Forsyning, the sensors are monitored centrally, and they can see if they are not working, or if they are running out of battery.
”We only had one defect fill level sensor the first four months out of 220, and we have not changed a single battery in a year, which gives us a problem free operation,” Thomas Strandmark states.
Langeland is a beautiful island with rolling landscapes. This initially posed problems when data needed to be transferred from sensors around the island; but in collaboration with Maacks, Langelands Forsyning has found a good solution in the so-called NB-IoT technology, which provides consistent data transfer about the fill levels in the containers.
Easy to expand
At Langelands Forsyning, they have a subscription arrangement with Maacks, which includes fill level sensors and the software package. If a new fill level sensor needs to be installed or replaced, it’s so straightforward that the operations manager often does it himself while he’s on the road anyway.
”It takes me 10 mintues til install a new fill level sensor and setting it up in our software,” Thomas Strandmark says. He recommends other waste management companies to install fill level sensors.
”It presents some obvious opportunities to optimise the operation, and the more rational effort also makes a lot of sense for the employees,” he continues.
Thomas Strandmark has also considered new initiatives within their smart waste management.
”We continuously work on making the solution even more effective and precise,” Thomas Strandmark says and expands: “The next generation of fill level sensors uses radar technology, which increases precision in readings for, among other things, cardboard, paper and plastic. In addition, we are considering working with the prognosis for emptying, which Maacks can offer.”
The Sønderborg-based company Maacks has supplied digital solutions for optimising routes and route planning to a large number of Danish municipalities and waste management companies. The company is the leading provider in the Danish market and has developed, with an innovative approach, among other things radar-based fill level sensors characterised by very high precision.
