SmartTrash: ICT for Garbage Management and its Sustainability in Kathmandu Metropolitan City 

Abstract

Trash - a word that every citizen in Kathmandu is familiar with. Unlike in other cities of the developed countries where wastes are managed scientifically, the garbage here is left to rot emitting smell and also posing health hazards to the city dwellers. Facing these circumstances, an appropriate remedy would be merging the idea of information and communication technology with the current garbage collection principles such that we will be able to create a healthier and a cleaner city. In order to achieve this, we introduce SmartTrash: ICT for Garbage Management and its Sustainability in Kathmandu Metropolitan City.
This proposed project is for the management of garbage or waste that gets collected each day in a certain locality. This project utilizes the tremendous power of embedded technology and presents the development of an electronic monitoring i.e. SmartTrash to overcome the above mentioned problem in the conventional approach. The proposed SmartTrash project is an implementation of embedded system that consists of sensor technology interfaced with micro-controller and a GSM module. The sensor installed in the trash bin detects the fill level regardless of what has been deposited inside. Once trash bin is filled, the information is transmitted to the residents as well as the stakeholders with the help of GSM module to notify that it is exceeded its capacity and disposal of waste is required. Accordingly, the community is able to react by reducing waste disposal until it gets collected and the authority is able to send an appropriate vehicle for collection the following day.
Analyzing the current situation of garbage in Kathmandu, SmartTrash is aimed to be the ultimate solution. With the use of various modules, there arises no difficulty in practical implementation, is much more cost efficient and also essential to implement if we analyze the health hazards that may occur if the city waste is not managed properly.