The National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) is leveraging technology to improve waste management operations, increase efficiency and promote sustainability.

Addressing the NSWMA’s recent press briefing on the ‘Revolutionising Waste Management: Harnessing Technology and Public Education’ campaign launch, held at the NSWMA’s offices in Kingston, Director of Operations, Aretha McFarlane, said the Authority has invested in smart solutions to improve service delivery.

McFarlane said that, to date, the Authority has implemented several key technologies in its operations to improve waste-collection efficiency. It is anticipated these technologies will result in operational efficiency and have a positive impact on the environment.

“Even in waste management, we need to be efficient….  With changing technologies, and changing times, we need to evolve, and we have evolved by incorporating more technology in waste management,” she said.

Among the technologies being employed is the use of vehicle-tracking devices and time-stamped photos to see real-time operations of the trucks. McFarlane said this technology is being utilised in its fleet management system to keep track of each unit.

This allows the Authority to track fuel usage of each unit and indicate the length of time the unit takes to clear each community of waste.

These devices can also be used to track the routes of the trucks and send alerts once the unit goes off schedule. McFarlane said this will assist in fuel savings.

“Technology helps us to gather important data that we can use to make operational decisions. It also helps with monitoring how much fuel each truck is using, and that is important because we want to know the real cost based on the time that the truck will take to clean the zones. That helps with operations,” Ms. McFarlane noted.

In addition, these technologies are used to formulate a maintenance schedule of trucks for optimal performance. This reduces downtime of the units and ensures maximum retention of units for rotation to prevent backlog of collections.

“It also helps with the servicing of the trucks. We are prompted when it is time for a truck to go in for servicing, and that is also helpful in extending the life of the NSWMA’s fleet,” McFarlane said.

Notably, the NSWMA’s digital reporting and mobile app is in the process of being updated with additional features.

NSWMA clients will be able to report missed garbage collection, illegal dumping, or request special collections using the app.

McFarlane said the NSWMA will be seeking to implement additional smart waste solutions to improve waste-collection services. The benefits of the introduction of these technologies include operational efficiency in collections, better resource management, improved customer service, real-time updates for customers and faster response to reported issues.

“An important thing that we are taking advantage of is having access to GPS, so with that information it helps us to make better operational decisions. We will continue to improve operational efficiency and customer experience. That is important because what we do right now is largely an operational trucking type of business. Our trucks and human resources have to be efficient,” McFarlane said.