The future of waste management in smart and sustainable cities: A review and concept paper

• Published in: Waste management (Elmsford) 2018-11, Vol.81, p.177-195
• Main Authors: Esmaeilian, Behzad, Wang, Ben, Lewis, Kemper, Duarte, Fabio, Ratti, Carlo, Behdad, Sara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Circular economy; Cities; IoT-enabled waste management; Product lifecycle data; Refuse Disposal; Sustainable and smart cities; Waste Management
• ISSN: 0956-053X; 1879-2456
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2018.09.047

•More than 220 papers are reviewed to provide insights about waste management in smart cities.•The current status of IoT-enabled waste management practices is reviewed.•A conceptual framework is offered for monitoring of product lifecycle data.•The need to connect waste management to the whole product lifecycle is discussed.•The importance of new business models on improving waste recovery is highlighted. The potential of smart cities in remediating environmental problems in general and waste management, in particular, is an important question that needs to be investigated in academic research. Built on an integrative review of the literature, this study offers insights into the potential of smart cities and connected communities in facilitating waste management efforts. Shortcomings of existing waste management practices are highlighted and a conceptual framework for a centralized waste management system is proposed, where three interconnected elements are discussed: (1) an infrastructure for proper collection of product lifecycle data to facilitate full visibility throughout the entire lifespan of a product, (2) a set of new business models relied on product lifecycle data to prevent waste generation, and (3) an intelligent sensor-based infrastructure for proper upstream waste separation and on-time collection. The proposed framework highlights the value of product lifecycle data in reducing waste and enhancing waste recovery and the need for connecting waste management practices to the whole product life-cycle. An example of the use of tracking and data sharing technologies for investigating the waste management issues has been discussed. Finally, the success factors for implementing the proposed framework and some thoughts on future research directions have been discussed.