LAWR

SYSTEMS & SOFTWARE New mobile apps helping to tackle waste In this world of ever changing technology the use of the smartphone has become very much the 'norm'. It is used to plan our lives, play games, make diary appointments and even remind householders when their bins will be collected. Here, Liz Gyekye looks at some apps and online tools helping the industry to manage waste. he industry is increas- ingly looking to har- ness the power of mobile phone tech- nology in an attempt to provide smarter solutions to per- sistent problems, such as fly-tipping, relating to waste management. Here, are a few smart innovations. Flymapper The Flymapper app is one solution that was recently developed by the Welsh Government's Fly-tipping Action Wales initiative to help crackdown on fly-tipping. Council waste manage- ment officers across Wales will use a smartphone to log, photograph and plot fly-tipping incidents onto a GPS mapping system in real time. It will pinpoint fly-tipping hot- spots in Carmarthenshire, Gwynedd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Newport, Denbighshire and Cardiff. Culprits face fines of up to £50,000 or impris- onment. Commenting on the new app, Gwynedd County Council streetscene manager Peter Simpson says: "Various incidents have been mapped within the first month, and benefits are already apparent, the map illustrates the con- centrations of incidents, and over time will allow for targeted campaigns to reduce fly-tipping in those areas. "It is a fact that fly-tippers have no respect for boundaries, whether public or privately owned land, urban or countryside. FlyMapper will make it far easier to establish patterns of offender's behaviour and quickly pro- vide sufficient evidence to ensure their prosecution and conviction." MyBin365 AMCS Group's MyBin365 app is a mobile application for households and businesses to manage their personal bin collections. It enables domestic and commercial waste producers to receive 'live' updates from their service provider. AMCS Group chief executive Jimmy Martin says that the resources manage- ment industry is starting to use more mobile technology for its operations, due to demand for "higher quality information on which to base opera- tional and commercial decisions". He adds: "Apps such as AMCS Group's MyBin365 are already starting to bring waste producers and service providers closer together. Their ability to improve transparency and provide real time communication and informa- tion has clear benefits for service pro- viders whilst also meeting the increas- ing expectations of society in terms of how we access and consume data. "It is not technology that limits the mobile opportunity for the recycling and resource sector - this rests in the mind-sets of society and industry. Overcome these reservations and the future is an exciting place. "We are perhaps only a couple of years away from systems, which enable producers to grade (and photograph) their waste before it is collected. This will allow waste managers to build up a picture of their material profile before it is even collected. In turn this will enable them to make better processing decisions; offer tiered pricing structures or optimise the value of their material by placing it on the market before they have even collected a bin." Binfo Elsewhere, for those residents prone to forget their bin collection days, South Oxfordshire District Council has unveiled an app called Bininfo. The free app informs householders when their bins will be collected. The app allows residents to use a GPS location feature to locate their address and informs then when their next waste collection will be, as well as whether their green or grey bin will be collected. The council also say that its app notifies householders if there are any changes to their collections due to bank holidays or adverse weather. 12 Local Authority Waste & Recycling October 2014 T Wales aims to crackdown on flytippers with its new Flymapper app.

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