WO2018215682A1 - Waste management system - Google Patents

Abstract

The system of the invention can be used to optimise the collection of waste, with the incorporation of communication means between a control centre (1) and the various collection vehicles (9), as well as between the collection vehicles and a series of systems included in each of the containers (2) in the network, said systems comprising means for identifying the volume of waste in each container and means for blocking and enabling access to the containers following identification, so that the waste can be effectively traced and so that user incentive schemes based on the volume of waste recycled can be promoted. The system also optimises the management of the collection vehicle (9) fleet, based on real-time knowledge of the fill volume of each container, as well as other important parameters, such as the need for maintenance. In addition, the system manages all aspects of the relationship between waste producers, management companies and the associated responsible authorities, with full control of charges, costs, rates, rewards and other.

Description

 WASTE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

D E S C R I P C I Ó N

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a waste management system, whose purpose is to optimize the collection of the different types of urban waste that are generated, in order to obtain greater control of said waste and its origin, allowing to achieve volumes of recycling established and that of managing the relationship between the citizen or SME and the agency that performs the service, optimizing both communication channels and cost control, charges, charges, awards, fees, and other parameters reflected in local ordinances and laws , regional or national.

The object of the invention is to provide a system that allows for better management and control of waste, which allows verifying the services performed, performing them at the most appropriate time, that is, optimizing the flow of collection vehicles, and providing traceability to waste to be able to act on the basis of their analysis in an optimal way, and to create a system of control and management of expenses and charges to citizens based on the use made of the collection system, as well as the assurance by part of the administration of compliance with all existing ordinances, laws or decrees regarding waste. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

At present, the collection of urban waste is carried out periodically, calculated statistically, so that the management of collection vehicles is not always optimized, since it may be the case that the containers assigned for a given time of collection are not completely full, so that transport costs are generated that could be minimized if such transports are carried out at the ideal time, in which the containers are completely full.

On the other hand, there are also problems related to the traceability of the waste that is finally collected since, the generation of one or another type of waste is not homogeneous according to the collection area in question, so there are areas in which that more waste of one type than another is generated, which should also be taken into account when managing the collection vehicle fleet.

In short, current waste collection systems, while fulfilling their function, involve huge costs given the lack of optimization in the management of their resources.

With regard to user management and administration, current systems do not directly involve them and, because they are not automated, they are slow and unreliable, which makes the effectiveness in charging real costs to waste producers very difficult or impossible. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The waste management system that is recommended resolves in a fully satisfactory way the problem previously exposed in each and every one of the aspects mentioned, allowing to optimize the collection and management of waste, as well as the administrative and legal management between Producers and responsible agencies.

For this, the system is constituted from a control center, through which a series of physical control devices are monitored, associated with both the waste containers and the vehicles responsible for collecting said waste, and a database where all the data of the producers, the companies in charge of the management and the agencies responsible for the service are registered and analyzed.

More specifically, the different types of waste collection containers, whether underground or at ground level, are provided with the following equipment:

• Means for blocking access to the interior of the container.

 • Means of identification of the user of the container through which the blocking means are acted upon.

 • Means for detecting the level of filling of the container associated with a communication circuit with the system.

On the other hand, the collection vehicles, or where appropriate the operators in charge of them They will have a terminal or communications equipment with geolocation means, so that they can access the plant, as well as the data collected by the different waste containers, and based on said data and positioning, manage the fleet of vehicles of The optimal way.

On the other hand, the containers, in the case of being of underground type, may optionally have waste compacting mechanisms, in order to minimize the number of trips of the different collection vehicles, offering information about the compacted volume for their management computing.

This type of container is usually assisted by a lifting mechanism, which will also incorporate status sensors to remotely manage its maintenance.

On the other hand, the means of blocking access to the containers could be selective, that is to say, to establish free accesses of small size, through which it would be too tedious to deposit a large volume of waste, and accesses controlled by identification, in the that a larger access is defined that allows a greater volume of waste to be emptied easily and comfortably.

Regarding the controlled accesses, through readers of identifiers of the producer, RFID cards and / or chips, the identifiers can be managed remotely, through the central management.

In the same way, the system's website can be accessed to consult the moments of access, discharge and collection. Similarly, Clean Points, ecological islands or similar are provided with computer systems to identify producers and managers, equipped with scales, terminals and other elements necessary to carry out the control.

From the physical means described, the system can generate databases of users with low, high and historical, record the entry and exit of compactors, with historical and control of the restitution time, block the equipment remotely, monitor the temperature of the pits, maneuver remote equipment, schedule access schedules, etc,

In this way, it is also possible to ensure traceability of the waste that arrives at the collection center in order to analyze said information and optimize its management.

In this way, the system also allows, with total transparency and in real time, that the administration informs the user, and that the user see at all times also in real time the use he is making of the waste management services, and of the imputations , fees, charges, prizes and other economic variables that involve you with the agency responsible for the service.

More specifically, the application has different fields that allow managing information based on needs.

Administrative code, ref. municipal, standard code, ref. rate, etc.

 Username. It is the number printed on the card.

 Card or identifier assigned to the user

NIF. From the user or CIF of the company. Electronic administration code.

 Name. From the cardholder.

 To receive the automated messages generated by the application, contributions, activation or card modifications.

 Language. In which the user wishes to receive the Mails.

 • Phone

 • Typology of the user, individual, SME, large producer, ...

The application allows the personalization of the data on the identifiers and even generate several to the same administrative reference to manage a unique balance.

The readers of the identifiers, allow to act as access control, on different elements such as barriers, specific closures for contribution mailboxes and containers, surface contribution islands, surface containers, etc.

As for the means of detecting the level of filling of the containers, these will incorporate at least two volumetric sensors that work simultaneously, in order to avoid erroneous readings due to an uneven distribution of the waste within the container.

These devices have the ability to send remotely, the information registered to the different communication elements, capture device or to the computer terminals of the vehicles or service operators.

In this way, both the operators of the collection vehicles and the central office will be able to moment to interrogate these devices to know in real time what is the filling status of each container.

In this way, the driver visualizes the exact filling percentage in the on-board console, allowing him to make decisions in real time, on the realization or not of the collection maneuver, according to the pre-established parameters, the record of actions being recorded.

In this way loads are optimized during service and route times are shortened, thus achieving a true intelligent pick-up.

Regarding the monitoring of the information, the data is visible through the web application of management of the control center that allows to consult:

• Geo positioning on the map of the collection points

 • The percentage of filling of each container

 • Fill history

 • Last measurement of each sensor

 • Verification of collection service, and / or container washing

 • Battery status

• Alarms that communicate in real time the indoor temperature, the dump and the status of the communication service The network that integrates the system can also incorporate surveillance cameras of the IP type, to be viewed from different facilities or remotely.

It is also planned to participate in the system of computer terminals for identification of citizens, equipped with an anti-vandalism touch screen in clean spots, ecological islands or similar.

The identification of citizens is done through personalized contact cards, NFC systems, ID, registration or any model of identifier.

Through access to the web application, municipal technical managers have the possibility of parameterizing fiscal ordinances, configuration and parameterization of waste according to current regulations, configuration of Mails (proof of contributions) for citizens and extraction of results. While a specific access for the OAC, will allow in control of the delivery of the identifying elements (cubes, cards, ..), printing and personalization of the municipal services cards, and the maintenance and relationship of the information with the administrative references of the townhall.

The local application of the clean point terminal allows the management of WEEE waste and reusable waste control according to regulations.

The solution manages the information regarding the producer, the typology and weighing of the waste according to the new regulations, the destination at the exits and the sending of the information for its management. It incorporates the management of reusable waste through labeling, registration and control of deliveries based on municipal criteria or ordinances, which administrators themselves can configure with the system's internal tool for parameterization.

Through the extraction of the data received in the system from the management terminals you get:

• Date and time of entry

 • Waste LER code

 • Quantity and unit of measure

 • Equivalence factor in Kg. For administrative management

 • Price per Kg. For the use of SMEs and large producers provided it is previously configured by the administrator.

 • The application has a visual filtering system, with the collection parameters, type of user, type of waste, date range.

 • An independent list will allow the administrator to consult the administrative codes of citizens who have exceeded the number of visits to the collection, and therefore are entitled to a bonus.

From this structure, the system allows to offer the following benefits:

• Integrate any device that is likely to be managed and / or monitored electronically. • Integrate any actor from the waste management circle, users, producers, managers, administration, etc. ...

 • Integrate the management and supervision of all the elements of a single information system.

 • Parameterization of municipal criteria and ordinances.

 • Limit the level of management and access to information to the role defined for each user of the system.

 • Have management applications integrated into the system.

 • Interaction with external applications through the appropriate interface.

 • The scalability and incorporation of new functionalities according to the needs of the users.

Finally, to say that the information obtained allows the rapid management of results for municipalities, savings in management for management and maintenance companies, and therefore an optimization of processes that allows cost reduction.

In the same way, to establish systems that allow the real costs to be attributed to each user, depending on the use made of the waste management system, so that the users who best use it and use it will benefit economically, and Don't do it, be penalized.

 DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description that will then be made and in order to help a better understanding of the features of the invention, according to a preferred example of Practical realization of it, is accompanied as an integral part of said description, a plane where the following has been illustrated and not limited to:

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the different basic components that participate in the waste management system object of the present invention.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above-mentioned figure, it can be seen how the system that is recommended includes a control center (1), through which a plurality of physical control devices are monitored, associated with both the waste containers (2) as to the vehicles (9) responsible for collecting such waste.

In this sense, the different containers (2) that participate in the system, which can be buried or not, have compaction means (11) or not, as well as lifting mechanisms (12), will incorporate locking means (3) of access to the interior of the container, so that to access it previously the user (18) must be identified, through an identification card (19), RFID chip or similar, for which said blocking means (3) will be associated to a control circuit (5) that governs a reader (4) of the user identifier (18) in question.

In parallel, it is envisaged that each container also has a filling level detection device (6) of said container, in which at least two volumetric sensors (7) participate that avoid erroneous readings due to an irregular distribution of waste in the bosom of container.

This filling level detector device (6) will also be associated with a communications module (8) through which to send the information, either directly to the exchange (1), or to the control devices (10) associated with each collection vehicle (9), being able to send additional information from another series of sensors (13) and (14), such as temperature sensors, compactor status (11), elevator status (12), etc.

In this way, the operators in charge of the collection through the vehicles (9) and through the terminals or control devices (10), equipped with geolocation means, will be able to access the central (1), as well as to the data collected by the different waste containers (2), and based on said data and positioning, manage the vehicle fleet in the optimal way.

The means of communication described also allow remotely managing not only the collection but also the maintenance and cleaning of the containers, and the control of access to the containers can also be managed remotely.

However, the means of blocking access to the containers could be selective, so that small free accesses were established, through which it would be too tedious to deposit a large volume of waste (20), and access controlled by identification (4), in which a larger access is defined that allows a greater volume of waste to be emptied conveniently and easily.

The central system (1) will allow users web access (18) to it in order to consult the moments of access, dumping and collection, statistical data, bonuses for volume of recycled waste, etc.

Thus, the system can generate user databases with low, high and historical, record the entry and exit of compactors, with historical and control of the restitution time, block the equipment remotely, monitor the temperature of the pits, maneuver remote equipment, program access schedules, ensuring reliable traceability of collected waste.

From this structuring, the driver of each vehicle (9) is able to visualize in the on-board console the exact percentage of filling of the different containers located in its vicinity, allowing him to make decisions in real time, on the realization or not of the collection maneuver, according to the pre-established parameters, the record of actions being recorded.

The network that integrates the system can also incorporate surveillance cameras (17) of IP type, to be viewed from different facilities or remotely, as well as computer terminals (15) for citizen identification, equipped with a touch screen (16 ) anti-vandalism, so that through its card or identifier (19) it is possible to control the volume of waste recycled by each user, being able to act accordingly through bonuses and other awareness policies deemed appropriate.

The containers can be located in closed or open enclosures (clean points), with specific classification areas, with control of entry and exit of waste by users, assisted or not by specialized personnel.

Claims

 R E I V I N D I C A C I O N E S 1 .- Management System residues, wherein the same central (1) control, provided with means for monitoring a plurality of physical control devices associated with both containers (2) waste as part the vehicles (9) responsible for collecting them, the containers (2) being provided to include means of blocking (3) for access to the interior, assisted by a control circuit (5) associated with a reader or means of user identifier (18) through an identification card (19), RFID chip or similar, with the particularity that a filling level detector device (6) in which they participate also includes within each container at least two volumetric sensors (7) associated with a communications module (8) through which to send the data obtained by said devices, either directly to the control panel (1), or to control devices (10) associated with each vehicle of collection (9) or to the personnel in charge of said vehicle, control devices (10) equipped with geolocation means, as well as means of communication with the exchange (1), it being provided that said exchange incorporates programming software by means of the that optimize the collection of waste based on the data obtained from each container, as well as the instantaneous position of each collection vehicle (9), as well as defining the traceability of the waste in its collection, defining databases of users with low, high and historical. 2 .- System waste management, according to claim 1, wherein the system includes a network of surveillance cameras (17) of the containers. 3 .- System waste management, according to claim 1, characterized in that the system includes computer terminals (15) for citizen identification, equipped with an anti-vandal touch screen (16), so that through its card or identifier (19) it is possible to control the volume of waste recycled by each user. 4 .- System waste management, according to claim 1, characterized in that the different containers (2) participating in the system can be buried or not, have compacting means (1 1) or not, and mechanisms of elevation (12), which may include additional temperature sensors, compactor status (1 1), elevator status (12), and the like to remotely manage its optimal operation. 5 .- System waste management, according to claim 1, characterized in that the locking means of access to the containers may be selective, such that free access of small size are established, and access controlled by identification (4), in which a larger access is defined for large volumes of waste. 6 .- System waste management, according to claim 1, characterized in that the containers are located in an enclosure with classification zones, with global control and out of waste identified by users. 7 ^a. - Waste management system, according to previous claim, characterized in that the container enclosures with sorting areas are assisted by specialized personnel.