IoT-Based Smart Waste Collection and Route Optimization in Urban Areas: A Secondary-Data Study of Mumbai and Maharashtra

Handling municipal solid waste remains an ongoing issue in big and fast-growing cities. Collecting waste on predetermined schedules does not necessarily take into account the differences in fill rates at various locations, while a lack of visibility can result in excessive use of vehicles, bin overfill, and inefficient conveyance of the waste to the treatment plants. The present review assesses the potential benefits of IoT sensing and route optimization for waste collection in Mumbai and Maharashtra. This is achieved by summarizing available data on this issue from literature and secondary sources, including the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), Government of Maharashtra, and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The cited documents provide figures of waste generation of 22,632.71 tonnes per day (TPD) in Maharashtra during 2020-21 and 24,299.43 TPD in the MPCB document for 2023. The amounts of waste treated scientifically were 15,056.10 TPD and 19,877.12 TPD, respectively. For the city of Mumbai, the MPCB report has indicated a generation of 6,690 TPD with a treatment/processing capacity of 5,976 TPD, giving a computed value of the ratio as 89.33%. This paper has discussed the concepts of sensor-based monitoring, data platforms, prioritization scores, and vehicle routing models and has provided the structure for an urban pilot project. In the absence of any local sensor measurements, GPS measurements, or field trials, this paper does not claim any measured savings in distance, fuel, and time.