Located 50 kilometers east of Helsinki, the Finnish capital, is Porvoo, an old medieval town situated in the picturesque scenery of the Finnish archipelago.

In the summer of 2011,  the scenery at the local recycling stations was less picturesque; overflowing waste containers and angry customers. The local waste management authority, Itä-Uudenmaan Jätehuolto, was having considerable challenges handling the increasing amount of waste that the many guests were generating during the summer season. Overfilling at the local recycling stations was becoming more common, causing increased littering and cleaning costs. Customers were demanding increased collection intervals, while the service was getting too expensive to maintain.

To tackle the problem the authority decided to pursue a smart city solution, installing wireless fill-level sensors at recycling. The sensor system provided by Finland-based logistics solution company Enevo, a Council Associate Partner, measures and forecasts when waste containers will be full. By combining the forecasts with traffic and vehicle information, Enevo’s system can generate millions of different route options and suggest the most cost-efficient to the user.

By utilizing Enevo’s smart sensor service ONe, Itä-Uudenmaan Jätehuolto was able to:

• Reduce the amount of collections by 51%
• Reduce unnecessary driving and emissions
• Significantly reduce the overfilling problem at recycling stations
• Achieve a net savings rate of 47%