IoT based Smart Waste Management System
Majority of the times, trash bins placed in open areas are over-burdened. This results in unhygienic living conditions for the people residing in the area and also gives a bad look to that area. It also plays a role in spreading diseases like dengue and chikungunya. To cater this problem, a mod
2025-06-28 16:33:43 - Adil Khan
IoT based Smart Waste Management System
Project Area of Specialization Internet of ThingsProject SummaryMajority of the times, trash bins placed in open areas are over-burdened. This results in unhygienic living conditions for the people residing in the area and also gives a bad look to that area. It also plays a role in spreading diseases like dengue and chikungunya. To cater this problem, a module is designed that monitors the level of bin. The device is IoT based since the sensors in the bin are communicating with the server online. These bins are integrated with microcontroller-based framework that contains ultrasonic sensors and wireless transmitter to establish a communication link in between sensors and the server, which hosts the database, and stores all the transmitted data. This data can be further accessed using the website and mobile application for real-time monitoring. This system also provides Route Optimization using google maps in order to efficiently utilize fuel.
Project ObjectivesProject Objectives:
The aim of this project is to:
- Reduce human resources and efforts along with the enhancement of a smart city vision.
- Minimize overflow due to increasing inhabitation.
- To make historical data tracking easier for the authorized personnel of the municipal authority, that could be used to manipulate the position of bins according to their usage.
- Reduce chronic diseases such as dengue, chikungunya.
- To reduce the total number of trips of garbage collection vehicle and hence reduce the overall expenditure associated with the garbage collection.
- This project focuses on the reduction of labor and fleet management, energy saving and improvement in the living standards of the society by contributing to the automated smart city systems.
- Contribute something big to the society
- As the world is moving towards automation, our Smart Bins provide an alternate approach to the waste management system. A step closer to the Smart World.
We are actualizing an IoT based smart waste management system that consists of a micro controller based framework integrated with the ultrasonic sensors. The ultrasonic sensors continuously monitor the level of the bin and this data is wirelessly transmitted to the MySQL database. This data can be accessed anywhere around the world using our website and mobile application for the real-time monitoring of data. The level of the trash in the bins is visible to the administration, and the bin can be emptied as soon as the red color is displayed in the data section. Route-Optimization is also employed using google maps to provide the effective route to the destination bin for efficient fuel utilization.
The benefits of our project include:
- Increased productivity
- Lower cost of operations
- Faster collection of garbage
- Efficient fuel utilization
- Real-time monitoring of data
- Minimizing the Environmental pollution
- Reducing the disease count
- Solar-powered self sufficient system
- Cleaner, Eco-friendlier cities
The core of our project is NodeMCU (ESP8266 12E), since it is this module which is establishing a communication link between the sensors installed and the data base.
Architecture for Smart Waste Management System:
The system will consist of 4 parts:
Sensor Node: Consists of 3 ultrasonic sensors, covering the whole bin area efficiently. The time it takes for the ultrasonic waves to reflect to the receiver part of the sensor is used to calculate the level of trash in bin. After an interval of 50 seconds the sensors would be sending data to the WIFI module (NodeMCU). Ultrasonic sensors are operating at 5V, drawing 15mA current. All the sensors are connected in parallel.
Coordinator Node: The digital output from the ultrasonic sensors is fed in to the processing unit that is NodeMCU with the Arduino inbuilt. From here the data is transmitted wirelessly to the server. The coding for connecting sensors to the Arduino (in NodeMCU) is done on Arduino IDE software. Code calculates the average from 3 ultrasonic sensors output and this average value is seen as an output for the level of trash in specific bin on serial monitor screen.
Web Server Design: The Database is created on the software tool phpMyAdmin, written in php intended to handle, the administration of MySQL over the web. The software is hosted by online server webhost, here the API (Application programming interface) are uploaded to connect the database with the NodeMCU for receiving data. The coding of the API is done in php using notepad++. The website is created using XAAMP software and a text editor Notepad++ and application using Android Studio and google firebase.
Power Supply: The power to the module deployed in bin is given by the Solar Panel. The Panel gives an output of 18V, but the battery is of 12V. These 12 volts are stepped down by a buck converter to 5V. These 5V are fed into the NodeMCU which further power the sensors. Hence the battery can supply power for 16 hours approximately without being charged.
| Item Name | Type | No. of Units | Per Unit Cost (in Rs) | Total (in Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in (Rs) | 23570 | |||
| NodeMCU | Equipment | 1 | 750 | 750 |
| Bin with delivery charges | Equipment | 1 | 12500 | 12500 |
| Solar panel with battery | Equipment | 1 | 3000 | 3000 |
| Wires male to female | Equipment | 1 | 900 | 900 |
| Ultrasonic sensors | Equipment | 1 | 140 | 140 |
| Ultrasonic sensors | Equipment | 2 | 140 | 280 |
| Miscellaneous | Miscellaneous | 1 | 6000 | 6000 |