Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

"Making things automatic reduces burden on the humans."(Rahmayanti et al., 2019)
According to the study of Samann (2017), environmental problems are raised by modern cities
for waste collection and disposal. Therefore, smart waste management systems became essential
for cities that aim to reduce cost and manage resources and time. It is timely that the trend is
shifting towards smart devices and internet of things (IoT) solutions to overcome common
problems such as waste management issues.
During the 1990s, smart trash cans have been studied. The term "Smart Trash Can" first
appeared in a publication in 2013 as a result of an academic Google search. Since then, more
papers have been discovered, notably in 2017, when 82 were discovered from 2020 and the
number of papers had doubled from the year before. Promoting smart trash bins is based on two
things. The first one is the condition of the garbage facility which is lacking in terms of quality
and quantity, and the second one is the mindset of the people who still consider the most
practical waste disposal by letting it lie on the roadside or dumped it into the river (Chandra, RP.,
Tawami T., 2020).
Unwanted garbage production has increased rapidly as a result of urbanization and
industrialization. How to separate waste has been an issue in the community. Yet, there are
several programs in place to segregate recyclable materials from garbage. Over 20 years ago,
people began sorting their garbage, and today many waste sorting facilities have their own
automated assembly lines. The existing quality control stage in the trash sorting process
necessitates numerous human activities, thus this process cycle is not ideal (Balagugan, et al.
2017).
According to a study by (Balakrishnan, et al. 2016), there are currently many different
types of machines that try to sort one material from another with varying degrees of success. No
contemporary technology has been applied to separate trash in the Philippines. The only method
of segregation used back then was manual (Christopher Henry Ng. 2014).
As to the research of (Agarwal, C., et al. 2020), the idea of keeping the cities clean is the
most important demand with the increase in development of smart cities. The amount of waste
created is too much, and processing it by hand would take a lot of time and work. Automated
methods to stop the accumulation of trash can be employed with the advancement of technology
in every industry. The garbage separator is developed to make it simple to dispose of gathered
waste. Three bins make up the system, with one bin each for wet, metal, and dry waste. Using
several sensors that are attached to the system, the conveyer belt system detects incoming waste,
classifies it as dry, wet, or metal, and directs it into the appropriate bin. Moreover, categorizing
waste into wet, dry, and metallic categories can aid in proper waste disposal and the application
of the Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle principle. The method separates the waste into three different
containers for wet, dry, and metallic debris.
The type of garbage is determined using a variety of sensors. Continuous waste level
monitoring ensures that the bins are timely emptied and don't overflow with garbage.
Saha et al. introduce the idea of intelligent disposal with a design that makes use of
presence sensors to keep track of how much garbage has gathered inside the enclosure and solar
energy to power the device. The garbage can be compacted by the compartment if necessary,
which can reduce the amount of the waste even before collection by up to ten times. It is
wirelessly communicated to a cloud server, where it is stored, along with information regarding
the fill level. The Wi-Fi hotspot-capable smart bin may be simply customized to fit any kind of
container, from little trash cans to enormous subterranean bins. The system is then accessible to
concessionaires through a login, giving them access to data analysis and fill level monitoring of
smart bins in real-time with notifications of the need for collection via data including the most
efficient garbage collection routes. Utility companies may cut their fleet of trucks, save money
on gasoline, and increase pick-up times with the aid of this clever innovation, which can save
operational expenses by up to 80%.
The use of automatic trash bins haves positive effects in waste disposal. However, there
is still limited number of literatures that explicitly ties about automatic trash bins as the main
segregator and not just a sensor for proper waste disposal, thus, we conducted this study for
further investigation.
The purpose of this study is to help the general public to solve the issue of garbage
classification by means of science and technology, follow the proper waste segregation using
cost-effective automatic trash bins, which contribute to improved operational efficiency, a safer,
cleaner, and more hygienic environment, all while lowering management expenses, resource
consumption, and roadside emissions.