INOVA-EM awards Ubiwhere the implementation of the bio-waste selective collection system with smart collective containers

INOVA - Empresa de Desenvolvimento Económico Social Cantanhede, EM - SA launches the work to make the selective collection of bio-waste a reality in Cantanhede. Because of the European Directive 2018/851, which establishes 2023 as the target year for the selective collection of bio-waste in the European Union, more and more Municipalities and entities are facing pressure to implement effective systems for collection and separation. In addition, in Portugal, households do not separate bio-waste, encouraging the adoption of innovative mechanisms that contribute to strengthening the adherence to the new systems by the community.

In this context, Ubiwhere, a Portuguese reference company in Smart Cities, presented the winning proposal to INOVA-EM for the implementation of the bio-waste selective collection system. According to the programme of the tender won by Ubiwhere, 400 collective pieces of equipment will be provided to collect bio-waste in the Municipality of Cantanhede. This equipment will be equipped with an access control system, and the information will be aggregated on the Smart Waste platform, developed by Ubiwhere, to monitor the operations. INOVA-EM thus employs a high sense of innovation, obtaining reliable statistics of use and adherence of the community to the system.

How will the bio-waste collection system work?

The entire operation will be conducted through the Ubiwhere Smart Waste platform. This platform will constitute the hardcore of intelligent and autonomous management of the system, as it aggregates and monitors the performance of all the containers that include the operation. The platform allows communication with the hardware for sending readings and events, generating usage reports, and controlling access to the containers. The type of user will differentiate access to the Platform - Administrator, Technician and End User - which will enable digital communication supports, such as the Customer Portal and the Mobile Application, making citizen interaction with the system more fluid and articulated. The containers will be equipped with an access control system with an RFID reader. To unlock the equipment, the user will have to pass an RFID key previously provided by INOVA-EM, or the Mobile App developed for this purpose. In doing so, the system will collect usage statistics per user, allowing an understanding of the level of adhesion of the community to the system. It will allow obtaining accurate metrics on the level of container filling, collections made, errors and alerts issued, among other aspects that improve the efficiency of the system’s management operations.

Selective collection of Bio-waste - The challenge

The separation of bio-waste is a new process that seeks to instil families’ routines for a more sustainable future. Nuno Ribeiro, co-CEO of Ubiwhere, points out that "in the course of the work that Ubiwhere has developed in this area, the technology developed and the monitoring mechanisms employed make the difference in the evaluation of projects of this complexity that affect people’s daily lives and what they are already used to doing". He adds, "Ubiwhere will always be available to collaborate with cities and municipalities that want to promote sustainability and development, from information and technology." The implementation of this system will take place progressively, and the first piece of equipment should be on the ground by the end of 2021.