Dublin Airport smart bins improve recycling effort

Dublin Airport’s large, eye-catching smart bins placed throughout both terminal buildings have improved the site’s recycling capabilities.

The bins are ‘smart’ because they contain a wireless ultrasonic fill-level sensor and a cloud-based monitoring and analytics platform. This means that the bin can communicate when the waste reaches 85% capacity by sending an alert via text to the cleaning team.

Before the smart bins were installed in October of last year, 1,200 bins were changed each day. This has now reduced to just 93 changes per day thanks to the new bin technology. In addition to the environmental benefits, the initiative has helped the airport achieve significant cost savings from better waste collection efficiency.

Siobhán O’Donnell, head of external communications at Dublin Airport, said, “We are able to gather data from the bin which helps us to analyze the type of waste produced in each area, and this provides valuable information in monitoring recycling rates. We have ensured that no waste is sent to landfill, and our recycling rates have increased to 37%.”

As part of the initiative, Dublin Airport launched an investigation into all areas that produce waste to identify factors that could aid a decrease in waste produced and an increase in recycling. These areas include food and beverage facilities; retail; asset care (?); and foreign object debris control, which occurs on the airfield.

A combination of training plans for both staff and management, together with the introduction of new bins, color coding of rubbish bags and improved signage, has resulted in almost a 40% reduction in general waste.