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Waste services, collected on evidence.

Collection crews drive fixed rounds whether bins are full or empty. Fill sensors in bins and banks, gas and weather at transfer stations and depots report to one record that plans routes, keeps sites safe and accounts for waste.

Industry

Cities

Measurements

4

Sources cited

3

1. Cities · Waste and street services

   Rounds that ignore the bins

   A collection truck drives the same round every week, emptying half-empty bins while others overflow two streets away. Transfer stations store waste that can heat, smoke and smell. Knowing how full each bin is, and what is happening at each site, lets crews work where they are needed.

2. What is measured

   Fill, gas, heat and weather

   Fill sensors inside street bins, recycling banks and underground containers measure how full they are. Gas detectors and heat sensors watch transfer station halls and bays, weather stations record wind for odour complaints, and every completed collection is recorded. Every reading names its container or site.

   Instruments

   Bin fill sensors · Gas detectors · Heat sensors · Weather stations

3. The base node

   Routes from forecasts

   The city node learns how fast each bin fills and forecasts when it will be full, then builds the next day’s routes. The transfer station node raises gas and heat alarms at once. Every value is signed, so routes and alarms can be checked later.

4. Radio and links

   LoRaWAN through metal lids

   Bin sensors in metal and underground containers reach roof gateways over LoRaWAN, for years on a battery. Gateways, transfer stations and vehicles report to the depot over cellular, and vehicles upload their collection records over the depot’s wireless. Each gateway is supervised.

   Links

   LoRaWAN · Public cellular · Wi-Fi

5. How it works

   From a full bin to tomorrow’s route

   A fill sensor in a recycling bank reports it nearly full. The city node forecasts it will overflow tomorrow and adds it to the next route. The crew empties it, the collection is recorded, and the overflow complaint that would have come never arrives.

6. From order to operation · Order

   Scope the rounds and the sites

   The scope reads the collection rounds, bin and bank inventory, transfer stations and the waste records the city must keep. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the sensor plan, the radio design, the integration with routing and waste systems and a price per sensor and per service.

   Plan a deployment

7. From order to operation · Survey

   Ride the rounds

   Crews ride rounds with the drivers to see which bins overflow and which are always empty, survey transfer stations for gas and heat points with the site manager, and check gateway coverage from roofs across each district. Their knowledge shapes the sensor plan.

8. From order to operation · Permits

   Containers, roofs and sites

   Sensors in containers belong to the city; gateways on roofs need the owners’ consent. Transfer station points follow the site’s permit and safety rules, and every consent is kept with the record. Drivers and site staff are briefed on what the sensors do, and every consent and briefing is kept with the record.

9. From order to operation · Build

   Build for bins

   Fill sensors, gateways, gas detectors, the industrial gateway and nodes are built, tested and enrolled with their identities. Each fill sensor is configured for its container type, and every one is labelled with the container it serves. Spares are kept at the depot.

   Open the Station Builder

10. From order to operation · Install

    Install on the round

    Crews fit fill sensors inside lids and containers as rounds empty them, mount gateways on roofs, and install gas, heat and weather points at transfer stations. Every sensor is located and photographed for the record. Crews log each sensor as they fit it, so nothing is missed.

11. From order to operation · Commission

    Check fill against the eye

    Each sensor proves its identity. Fill readings are checked against what crews see at collection, gas detectors with reference gas, and alarms are tested to the transfer station manager. Routes are generated in parallel with the old rounds first. Results are kept with each record.

12. From order to operation · Operate

    Collect what is full

    Planners build each day’s routes from fill forecasts, crews empty what is full and skip what is not, and overflow complaints fall. Transfer stations see gas and heat with alarms, and the waste record follows from completed collections. Every route is kept on the record.

13. From order to operation · Maintain

    Swap and check on the round

    Sensors are checked when crews notice a mismatch, batteries changed on plan, damaged sensors swapped on the next round, and gas detectors calibrated on schedule. Every change is recorded against the container or site. Spares ride on the trucks, so a failed sensor is replaced on the spot.

    Book field services

14. Data products

    For planners, crews and authorities

    Collection planners and crews receive fill forecasts and daily routes; street services receive overflow alerts; transfer station managers receive gas and heat alarms; waste authorities and city leadership receive waste records and indicators. Each product carries its container or site.

    See the data products

15. Evidence

    Waste accounted for

    Every reading, route, collection and alarm is signed and kept. Waste records follow the Waste Framework Directive, city indicators follow the international standard, and data is exchanged through open standards, so the city can show what it collected and how efficiently.

    Drawn against

    Directive 2008/98/EC · ISO 37120 · OGC SensorThings

16. What you get

    Municipal sensing and connectivity layers

    City-wide LPWAN or private 5G as a shared layer for public sensors and services. Delivered as managed service, for cities, regional governments. Scale: City-wide. Service levels are written as numbers you can measure on your own dashboard. Changes are versioned, tested and reversible.

    Talk to sales

17. Next step

    Plan waste and street services with us

    Tell us the site, the measurements and the rules it answers to. We reply with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for waste and street services. An engineer replies with a survey proposal and a scope, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need, at your pace.

    Plan a deploymentOpen the Station BuilderOpen the Studio

01The place and its hazards

Where it runs, and what can go wrong.

Operating contextCities collect household and street waste, empty recycling banks and run transfer stations and depots. Fixed rounds waste fuel and time, overflowing bins draw complaints and pests, transfer stations handle gases and fire risk, and waste rules require records of what is collected and where it goes.

Hazards

• Overflowing bins and fly-tipping
• Wasted rounds to empty bins
• Fires and gas at transfer stations
• Odour complaints from neighbours
• Incomplete waste records

02What must be measured

What, where, how often, and under which rules.

Each measurement names where it is taken, how often, and the public standard or regulation behind it. Numbers in the sources column open the cited source below.

03The observation stack

From one base unit to a network.

The same blocks at every scale: instruments and a base node, a site with its radio, a fleet run as one, and a network federated on the open protocol.

1. 01

   Base unit

   A bin sensor on LoRaWAN, or a transfer station point read by an industrial gateway and an edge node.

   Build a station →
2. 02

   Site

   A district: bin sensors, a gateway on a roof and the transfer station’s node with cellular to the depot.

   Plan a site →
3. 03

   Fleet

   Every sensor of a city run as one fleet, with one record.

   Managed offers →
4. 04

   Network

   Cities and waste authorities exchange waste data and indicators through open standards.

   The open protocol →

• 01Gas detector (industrial)
• 02Compact weather station
• 03LoRaWAN gateway
• 04OT gateway (OPC UA, Modbus)
• 05Edge node (Wedge)
• 06Cellular modem/router
• 07Pole

Radio and links

LoRaWAN

Bin sensors in metal and underground containers reach roof gateways at very low power, for years on a battery.

Radio and links

Public cellular

Gateways, transfer stations and vehicles report to the depot over the public network.

Radio and links

Wi-Fi

Vehicles upload collection records at the depot.

Edge computeThe transfer station node raises gas and heat alarms at once; the city node forecasts when each bin will be full and builds the next day’s routes from the forecasts.

PowerBin sensors run on batteries for years; gateways and station equipment on mains.

04How it works

From the instrument to the product.

One observation’s path, tier by tier, with the interface on every link and a bill of materials below; then how the one node grows to a site, a fleet and federated networks.

05From order to operation

Every step, from the first call to a running site.

The same crew and the same record carry the work from scope to maintenance.

1. 01 Order

   Scope the rounds and the sites

   The scope reads the collection rounds, bin and bank inventory, transfer stations and the waste records the city must keep. Nexus Observatory Inc. returns the sensor plan, the radio design, the integration with routing and waste systems and a price per sensor and per service. 1

2. 02 Survey

   Ride the rounds

   Crews ride rounds with the drivers to see which bins overflow and which are always empty, survey transfer stations for gas and heat points with the site manager, and check gateway coverage from roofs across each district. Their knowledge shapes the sensor plan.

3. 03 Permits

   Containers, roofs and sites

   Sensors in containers belong to the city; gateways on roofs need the owners’ consent. Transfer station points follow the site’s permit and safety rules, and every consent is kept with the record. Drivers and site staff are briefed on what the sensors do, and every consent and briefing is kept with the record.

4. 04 Build

   Build for bins

   Fill sensors, gateways, gas detectors, the industrial gateway and nodes are built, tested and enrolled with their identities. Each fill sensor is configured for its container type, and every one is labelled with the container it serves. Spares are kept at the depot.

5. 05 Install

   Install on the round

   Crews fit fill sensors inside lids and containers as rounds empty them, mount gateways on roofs, and install gas, heat and weather points at transfer stations. Every sensor is located and photographed for the record. Crews log each sensor as they fit it, so nothing is missed.

6. 06 Commission

   Check fill against the eye

   Each sensor proves its identity. Fill readings are checked against what crews see at collection, gas detectors with reference gas, and alarms are tested to the transfer station manager. Routes are generated in parallel with the old rounds first. Results are kept with each record.

7. 07 Operate

   Collect what is full

   Planners build each day’s routes from fill forecasts, crews empty what is full and skip what is not, and overflow complaints fall. Transfer stations see gas and heat with alarms, and the waste record follows from completed collections. Every route is kept on the record. 1

8. 08 Maintain

   Swap and check on the round

   Sensors are checked when crews notice a mismatch, batteries changed on plan, damaged sensors swapped on the next round, and gas detectors calibrated on schedule. Every change is recorded against the container or site. Spares ride on the trucks, so a failed sensor is replaced on the spot.

06Data products and integration

What it delivers, to whom, and into which systems.

Data products

• Fill forecasts and daily routesCollection planners and crews
• Overflow alertsStreet services
• Transfer station gas and heat alarmsSite managers
• Waste records and indicatorsWaste authorities and city leadership

Integration

• Route planningFill forecasts feed the routing system, which builds each day’s rounds.
• Waste management recordsCompleted collections join the waste record by container.
• City data platformIndicators are served through OGC SensorThings and open data.

Exchanged through OGC SensorThings API, LoRaWAN, OPC UA.

07Questions buyers ask

Before you scope it.

Do crews still empty every bin?

They empty bins that are full or forecast to be; others wait for a later round.

What about bins with no sensor?

They stay on fixed rounds until sensors are added.

Do sensors survive the truck?

They sit inside lids and containers built for collection.

Can it help with fires?

Transfer station heat and gas alarms raise early warnings.

08Resources

The sources behind this page.

Public standards, regulations and guidance, cited where they apply. Each applies only where its jurisdiction or scope does.

1. 1Directive 2008/98/EC on waste (Waste Framework Directive)European Union · 2008
2. 2Guide to Instruments and Methods of Observation (WMO-No. 8)World Meteorological Organization
3. 3ISO 37120: Sustainable cities and communities, indicators for city services and quality of lifeInternational Organization for Standardization

09Related

Use cases and solutions.

10Cities: specialized fields

Other fields of this industry.

Bring us the site.

Plan a deployment, configure a station, model it in the Studio or talk to sales. The form names who receives your details.