New solutions and opportunities in the recycling sector to encourage the recovery of materials.

Digital transformation is also involving the waste recycling industry and parts of sector in which waste often represent a disposal problem. The use of this technological solutions can bring significant opportunity for the economy employment and also reduce the request of raw materials.

This change is already bringing concrete improvements. In future these technological solutions could affect different aspects including the management systems and the current equipment.

Among the most interesting aspects, those that will receive a substantial and more significant change will be:

• Waste collection systems in general
• Solutions for transport logistics
• Cloud computing systems

In the future, the use of data and intelligent solutions, will allow to increase and promote a significant transformation. The recycle of materials and its awareness, will be more concrete in all the different sectors and along the entire supply chain. We will be “called” to work and contribute continuously to this transformation. All of us will be asked to have an active role for the implementation and design of new solutions from the beginning. Users also will be included.

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS AND COLLABORATION IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN

Different technology like IoT, could help to optimize and increase the capacity and operation of waste management systems. This could help to consolidate the relationship with customers in a solid way.

The main aspects that have to be considered are:

• The use of technology and sensors to monitor levels and material
• The spread of applications and software to collect data
• Re-use material database
• Collaboration of the whole chain and crowdsourcing solutions

TOWARDS THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY; A FOCUS ON THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

In the construction sector for example, several wastes are produced.

The improvement and recovery of waste materials also arise from proposals and solutions from different stakeholders, with the aim of a circular model for disposal. This allows to limit, where possible, the quantity of material that is sent directly to landfills for final disposal.

For several years already, the use of machineries to reuse the deconstruction material and manage the waste material within the sites themselves has been a reality. Among these realities the use of mobile screens and shredders is growing. These machines are able to crush and reduce into smaller units, materials that can be reused in the same site for new constructions like foundations or parts of building. This intervention allows to burden economic impact on the company itself, because of the material is reused instead of purchased.

This attention could also be extended to other demolition/construction materials and excavation and processing activities. The aim is to enlarge the consideration also to in other production sectors reducing costs and material request.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND NEW PROFESSIONALS

In other to increase and make the whole supply chain more sustainable and collaborative some activities could be useful such as:

• The possibility to review projects 
• The creation of a material list as a database

This direction would certainly allow the creation of a new constitution with the aim to promote the interests of the sector and to start a dialogue with authorities and institutions.

New economic activities and new professions such as special advisor and deconstruction companies are needed in order to finalized these projects.

A CHANGE THAT AFFECTS THE WHOLE SUPPLY CHAIN

Data management, digital and implementation of solutions, properly integrated, can bring excellent results. Global improvements in management of the entire supply chain are real business opportunity. This results in an important change that requires targeted and organized interventions along the entire supply chain and which could also be extended to other sectors.

The all territory could benefit, not only concerning social and economic tissue (work, employment and opportunities), but also the environmental system (safeguarding, respect and conservation).

If you are directly interested or if you work on recycling sector, you will find here the ideal product to control the different machines and equipment.