Last year, the City of Toronto approved a long-term, 30-to-50-year integrated waste management strategy, which includes both circular economy and zero waste components. Waste360 recently spoke with the session speakers to gain some insights on what to expect. And Rubicon Global, an international cloud-based, full-service waste and recycling company focused on sustainability, is utilizing hauling technology, consumer-facing technology and sustainability technology to help cities and companies improve their operations.Īt WasteExpo in May, Jim McKay, general manager of solid waste management services for the City of Toronto Susan Fife-Ferris, director of solid waste planning and program management for Seattle Public Utilities and Phil Bresee, manager, environmental management office, department of environmental services for the Solid Waste Solid Waste Bureau of Arlington, Va., will discuss how their smart cities are managing solid waste during the 'Smart Cities with a Solid (Waste) Plan' spotlight session. Los Angeles-based Ecube Labs Co., for example, is using solar-powered waste compacting bins, data analytics and a resource management platform to help cities optimize the efficiency of their waste collection value chains. And now, with the concept of a circular economy gaining more traction, the trend of smart cities is on the rise. The idea of smart cities was first developed by technology giant IBM, which created a worldwide initiative called Smarter Cities aimed at helping cities and companies leverage data to improve operational performance in many sectors, including waste management.

With increasing populations, changing policy requirements, new sustainability and recycling goals and improved technology departments, municipalities across the globe are joining the “smart cities” movement to become more efficient in managing solid waste.

Smart trash disposal