Digital twin concept for manual waste sorting management

In recent years, increasing attention has been given to waste management. It is mainly related to the promotion of the Circular Economy as a key policy objective in the EU. The aim is to shift from a linear approach to a circular one, which is based on reuse and recycling. To enable recycling, it is necessary to separate waste mixtures into different fractions. Therefore, it is crucial to consider and optimize different waste sorting techniques. Despite advances in technology that have emerged as part of Industry 4.0, manual sorting is still widely used as support for automatic/mechanical sorting. Current manual sorting research is mainly focused on human health and ergonomics. There is a definite lack of studies dedicated to the management of this process which is critical for the transformation to a circular economy. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to present the digital twin concept for manual waste sorting management. Four stages of research work have been introduced. Within these stages, the motion capture gloves for data collection from physical objects (workers) were proposed. Additionally simulation model for virtual representation was considered and a data exchange system for connection between physical objects and their virtual representations.