DE-WASTE: Digitally Empowered Holistic Management and Recycling of Industrial Waste

Management and recycling of waste from industrial and commercial buildings is a multi-domain problem that is inter-connected with the transport, environment (air quality), energy, weather, built infrastructure and climate sectors. A holistic optimisation and on-ground demonstration of waste management while taking into account this interconnected nature using a combined digital and physical engineering approach are the main aims of this project.

The proposed work presents an advanced approach to transform BNL's waste collection operations, delivering significant enhancements in efficiency, sustainability, and customer service. By adopting state-of-the-art digitalisation technology and data-driven decision support, BNL will be equipped to tackle future challenges and seize opportunities, driving growth and success in an increasingly competitive and environmentally-conscious market.

This project's innovation includes an integrated and automated system that harnesses digitalisation through Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, multi-sector data (both open data and confidential asset owner data) and multiple third-party (both open source and commercial) software using Connected Digital Twin (CDT) technology, empowered by The World Avatar (TWA). This approach leverages the latest advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), smart process control, and semantically linked data. The proposed innovation enables effective decision support based on a digital ecosystem approach and the continuous insights gathered from data sharing across multiple heterogeneous sectors and sources.

A collaboration comprising UK-based CMCL with its deep expertise in connected digital twins and BNL, a waste management company based in Singapore is planned to deliver two innovative outcomes that will be exploited by these ambitious companies:

1. BNL's tested and validated on-ground demonstrator for optimal management of its physical assets such as the Rear End Loader (REL) and Open Top Containers (OTC) trucks, its data, sensors, and the corresponding industrial waste collection operations to help grow their customer base by enabling them to reduce their waste, aligned with Singapore's national net-zero targets.
2. CMCL's The World Avatar digital ecosystem with a clear demonstration use case to serve the interconnected waste management market segment within sustainable smart cities, while overall enabling its end-users in terms of behaviour change and demand reduction in the waste sector, as highlighted in the Climate Change Committee's recommendation in The Sixth Carbon Budget for Waste.