At the 66th Graz Municipal Day, Saubermacher and Energie Steiermark invited participants to take stock of the pilot projects “Smart Village” in Feldkirchen bei Graz, Riegersburg and Villach, as well as the pilot project with Austrian Glas Recycling (AGR) in Horn. In these test communities as well as in Schwaz in Tyrol, more than a thousand of our SLOCs for level measurement in various recyclable material containers have already been successfully in use for a year.
With Saubermacher, we have a partner that is considered a pioneer in waste management and was recently named the most sustainable waste disposal company in the world. Hans Roth (founder of Saubermacher) explained the future problems of waste management at the Municipal Day as follows: “The waste management cycle is reaching its limits and for that these new technologies will be very important.”
The possibilities of optimizing processes with SLOC’s smart waste clay convinced all project partners (waste management companies, municipalities and citizens) of the Smart Village projects in equal measure. The mayors of the test communities also saw the progress of the pilot phase as very promising. For Saubermacher Sales Director Dr. Andreas Opelt, “SLOC is the first smart sensor that is suitable for waste management.”
Styrian Governor Hermann Schützenhöfer was also enthusiastic about the projects and congratulated on the successful test run. “These technologies show what Styrian talents and bright minds are capable of,” Schützenhöfer said.
In the municipality of Horn (Lower Austria), a pilot project was also launched in December 2018 together with Saubermacher and Austrian Glas Recycling (AGR), which determines the fill level in almost 600 waste glass containers (white & colored glass) distributed over approx. 300 collection points, in order to optimize the logistics processes based on this.
During the test phase, efficiency has already been increased considerably. Overall, AGR sees a savings potential of up to 30% in costs and effort. Mr. Hauke (Managing Director AGR) emphasized at the Municipal Day that AGR moves around 250,000 tons of glass in 70,000 containers and that this is a very big logistical challenge. “In the previous year, 300 of these containers were already equipped with sensor technology and another 500 collection points are planned in Villach,” said Mr. Hauke.
SLOC’s smart devices have also been successfully in use in Tyrol for almost a year. In June 2019, the first public waste containers in the municipal area of the city of Schwaz were equipped with SLOC sensors. In the joint project with the Tyrolean waste disposal company DAKA, the fill level is determined daily in 90 of a total of 350 containers.
The city’s environmental officer, Hermann Weratschnigg, praises the smart waste garbage can: “The modern equipment of the waste garbage cans is an important step towards even more efficient and environmentally friendly collection and disposal”.
Avoiding waste and conserving resources is the best way to protect the environment. But how can this be implemented in the everyday life of citizens, communities and cities so that everyone can participate? SLOC has the solution: the smart waste garbage can.
Advantages for waste disposal companies:
With the help of high-tech sensors, SLOC detects how full the garbage can is, among other things. The system reports this information to the disposal company’s IT platform. Because this enables the garbage cans to be emptied as needed, he can dynamically plan his routes accordingly. This reduces traffic, congestion, noise and CO2 emissions.
Benefits for local authorities and citizens:
Overflowing trash cans after festivals or parties – households whose trash cans never get full or overcrowded public collection points are a thing of the past. With SLOC, waste garbage cans are only emptied when they are really full.