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Tweeting Trash Cans Help Cities Reduce Fleet Costs

Sensors in the containers monitor how full the receptacles are — and tweet when they’re ready to be emptied.

Finnish-based Enevo illustrates how "e-containers" can increase efficiency by directing waste trucks to service only full containers. (Enevo ONe)

In some cities, garbage bins are capable of trash talk. Sami J. Anteroinen reports for Politico.eu that Finnish startup Enevo is helping to revolutionize refuse collection with cans that tweet. Sensors in the containers monitor how full the receptacles are — and tweet when they’re ready to be emptied.

Fredrik Kekäläinen, founder and chief executive officer of Enevo, tells the publication that the technology enables optimal trash pickup. By alerting waste-management teams that they’re full, the “e-containers” reduce delivery trips. That translates into cost savings for public and private fleets.

More than 10,000 of the e-containers are already in use in 35 nations, the article says. Eveno plans to triple that amount by year’s end. Amsterdam, Helsinki and Cambridge, Mass., are among the early adopters. Meanwhile, in Panama City, sensors in the streets spot potholes by detecting thuds and tweet complaints.


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This story was originally published by Citiscope, a nonprofit news outlet that covers innovations in cities around the world. More at Citiscope.org