Waste4Think

Waste4Think is an EU Horizon 2020 project designed to implement digitized urban waste management using RFID waste monitoring and a Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) accounting system to generate city tax based on waste quantity. Additionally, the project aims to establish Know-As-You-Throw (KAYT), a system to monitor citizens' sorting performance and provide feedback. 

It is estimated that a single individual in the EU generates nearly 475 kg of waste each year. 26% of this municipal waste is dumped in landfills, 27% is incinerated and merely 47% is recycled or composted. Therefore, nearly 80 million tons of recyclable waste is discarded annually. This portion includes biowaste and food waste, which possess the capability to produce energy and nutrients for the soil. 

The Waste4Think project aims to enhance urban waste management in the EU, potentially reducing discarded municipal waste and moving towards a circular economy system. 

Waste4Think aims to achieve the following over the course of the project:

• Reduce the extraction of virgin materials by 17-24%.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2-4%.
• Create more than 170,000 jobs in waste management by 2030.
• Increase GDP by 3%.
• Reduce the waste generated by 8%.
• Increase urban waste sorting by 20%.
• Save waste management costs by 10%.

The challenges will be approached by testing 20 eco-innovative solutions and their effectiveness. Each solution will be weighed for its benefits by a set of holistic data management methodology. 

Four pilots will be established in urban European cities to establish the solutions, each with a particular strategy:

• Zamudio, Spain: monitoring of dustbins and implementing PAYT and incentives. 
• Halandri, Greece: designing an optimal waste collection and management system.
• Seveso, Italy: RFID collection bags and PAYT system with incentives.
• Cascais, Portugal: maintenance and optimization of waste collection along with an approach to citizen participation.

The solutions will include technological and non-technological approaches to waste management, IT tools for the operation, decentralized solutions for integrated management of food waste, preventions and best practices, behaviour boosting mechanisms based on social innovations and tools for citizen engagement.

Waste4Think aims to employ the solutions, creating a virtual smart city with a foundation for a circular economy. 

A total of 14 partners across Europe form the consortium in charge of implementing the project. 

The Waste4Think project was presented at the 2019 International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) world congress.