Waste4Think

The European Waste4Think project seeks to apply information and communication technology to the management of the waste generated by urban environments to save costs and promote sustainability by validating a total of 20 highly innovative solutions addressing real-time data monitoring, capture and processing, the creation of integrated IT fools, the launch of innovative awareness campaigns, the implementation of serious gamesmobile application design and the construction of two pilot plants for organic waste and diaper treatment towards the aim of progressing in the construction of smart cities and strengthening the foundations of the circular economy.



These solutions are being tested in four pilot projects installed in the Biscay town of Zamudio, the southern Greek city of Halandri, the Portuguese municipality of Cascais and the Italian city of Seveso.

The choice of sites responds to the interest in observing areas with different degrees of industrialization and different social, demographic and geographic characteristics, as well as different realities with regard to waste management.

Project Duration

The project, which will last for three years, officially began last 01 June 2016 and will end in November 2019. It is endowed with 9 million euro in funds.

Participants

The consortium is composed of a total of 19 partners, among them public administration entities, technological centres and universities, SMEs, a cluster and an NGO:

 

  • (Coordinator) Fundación Deusto – Deustotech
  • Municipality of Zamudio– Bizkaia
  • Basque Environment Industry Cluster – Aclima
  • Comune di Seveso – Italy
  • ARS Ambiente Srl – Italy
  • Legambiente Lombardia – Italy
  • Municipality of Halandri (ΔΗΜΟΣ ΧΑΛΑΝΔΡΙΟΥ) – Greece
  • Moba Mobile Automation AG – Germany
  • l’Agència d’Ecologia Urbana de Barcelona (BCNecologia) – Barcelona
  • Municipal Environmental Company of Cascais (EMAC) – Portugal
  • Environmental Biotechnologies (EnBio EPE) – Greece
  • National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) – Greece
  • Serious Games Interactive – Denmark
  • Softline – Italy
  • University of Patras – Greece
  • Zabala Innovation Consulting
  • Green Technologies – Greece
  • Engineering – Italy
  • Virtualware – Bizkaia

 

Biscay: At the Heart of the Initiative

The Zamudio pilot project is one of the scenarios where the different data capture, digitalization and processing systems are being tested on a data processing platform that enables decision-making from an integrated perspective in global terms of sustainability. Moreover, analysis of the economic, social and environmental impact of the current management system is being carried out, along with long-term strategic planning that includes defining and localizing collection points and new compost treatment plants.

Different sensors have been integrated into waste containers and a system for real-time characterization and weighing into the waste collection trucks to enable data monitoring and processing.

Moreover, the project managers and other technological partners are charged with the mission of developing a methodology of civic participation and co-creation through shared learning experiences, collaboration activities based on mobile apps, social networks, open educational resources (OER) and serious games to be fed with real data from the municipality to bring citizens closer to the reality of their environment and enable them to participate in the search for solutions.

Another of the elements to be analysed in the framework of the project is the implementation of Pay As You Throw (PAYT) systems and incentive plans to promote separation and reduce the creation of waste.

The Zamudio pilot will also seek progress in establishing zero waste ecosystems by analysing different areas where waste is created, to identify the type of waste generated in order to subsequently assess corrective measures.



Our Mission

Aclima spearheads the communication and dissemination package for the project results and is fulfilling its objectives; nevertheless, its role in facilitating the transfer of the technologies used among the participants continues to be vital.

It also spearheads the circular economy module, where it is working towards the creation of a tool that helps identify solutions to achieve “Zero Waste” territories – the objective of the next meeting, which will be held in June next year.

It has also been charged with organizing the parallel event at the ISWA World Congress to be held at the Bilbao Palacio Euskalduna during the second half of 2019, to be attended by some 1,200 delegates from all the continents.



Expected Results

The main objectives of Waste4Think consist of reducing the creation of waste by 8%, achieving an improvement of 20% in urban waste classification to facilitate reuse and recycling, reducing costs of waste management by 10% and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by as much (10%).

However, it also seeks to promote a change in mentality, modify habits and enhance the mechanisms of recycling and reuse.

In sum, this entails creating synergy between partners to be able to formulate scenarios that will enable the practical application of new systems of governance and resource management and the creation of new business models.