IOT-driven system for waste collection monitoring and metal segregation

Waste management has posed a lot of challenges especially for developing countries like Nigeria. Waste bins are always seen overflowing where they are provided and at other places wastes are dumped indiscriminately on the streets.  This does not only produce ugly scenes but when washed into drainage and underground waters can result to both environmental and health hazards. Government having awarded waste collection contract to individuals needs an effective means of monitoring their activities in order to ensure total compliance with terms of the contract. In Omagba phase two community of Onitsha, Anambra State, Nigeria for example, its waste management is characterized by improper disposal, insufficient bins, delayed collection of waste by truck drivers, nonchalant attitude of the contractor, inaccessible roads, ineffective monitoring by government officials among others. This paper therefore proffers solution to the aforementioned issues by harnessing the potentials of the bourgeoning internet of things which entails exchange of data among interconnected objects over the internet to provide the municipal authority with an efficient waste collection monitoring system devoid of human manipulations. The system provides a real time status of the connected waste bins at Omagba phase two community to the municipal authority by integrating smart sensors, microcontrollers, and cloud-based data analytics. It demonstrates successful real-time bin status monitoring, metal detection and segregation for recycling purpose with high accuracy as well as providing a scalable solution for smart city waste management.