In 2023, each resident of the Czech Republic generated 537 kilograms of municipal waste. More than half was successfully utilized further, with 14 percent used for energy recovery. The remaining 42 percent ended up in landfills. However, landfilling will soon be coming to an end, and the Neruda-style question of “where to put it” is becoming increasingly pressing when it comes to waste. Experts from the Institute of Process Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering BUT are helping to find a solution.

Their latest tool is called Popelka (Cinderella). It is mainly designed to assist waste collection companies that handle waste transport, but more efficient collection will ultimately save money for municipalities and citizens. The key to planning and effective waste management is data – something companies and local governments still rarely collect or are only beginning to learn how to gather.

Many things are still done the old-fashioned way. “About three years ago, we gathered data from collection companies and found that smaller companies plan routes either manually on paper or using Excel spreadsheets. But as the pressure to sort more types of waste grows, they can no longer keep up. Try planning a combination of ten trucks and fifty municipalities with six types of waste and different collection frequencies on paper,” explains Radovan Šomplák, head of the research team at the Institute of Process Engineering.

That’s why the online tool Popelka began to emerge – to simplify route planning. “The user defines their collection network: where the containers and bins are, their volume, the type of waste they are intended for, and how often they should be emptied. The frequency of collection can vary even within a single municipality – for example, recreational properties are usually serviced less often than residential buildings or companies. The user also inputs their vehicle fleet: the types of collection trucks they have, the technology used, capacity, and the type of waste they handle. Drivers and crew can also be assigned directly,” describes researcher Vlastimír Nevrlý.

Popelka then calculates the optimal route, including an estimate of how long it will take to service a given municipality. It recommends the nearest terminal facility where the specific type of waste is stored or processed. In this way, it plans the collection schedule for a given area for the entire year. “Ideally, the mayor of a municipality receives this calendar from the collection company, showing collection days for each waste type. The calendars can then be distributed to all residents so they know when to put out each bin,” says Nevrlý.

Among the first to test the system are the city of Příbram and the Malá Haná region. Local technical services are already working with BUT to configure Popelka and gradually test it in operation. The system is best suited for smaller towns and municipalities. “The collection services we mainly target are the smaller ones – with five to twenty trucks – serving a district town and its surroundings. In principle, Popelka could also be used in big cities like Prague or Brno, but its main purpose is to optimize inter-municipal waste collection. To put it simply, in a large city, you always find enough waste to fill a truck and go again. In smaller municipalities, you drive more transfer kilometers, so better planning means greater savings,” says Šomplák.

Real Waste in the Digital Age

Experts from the Institute of Process Engineering point out that while trends in waste management are clear, the tools to manage them are still lacking. Legislation is already placing – and will increasingly place – greater demands on waste producers. The Waste Act of 2020 sets limits for the separation rate of municipal waste: this year we should be able to sort 55 percent, by 2030 it should be 60 percent, and five years later another five percent more. Anything exceeding the limit will be subject to fees, which will ultimately fall on waste producers – that is, municipalities and ultimately the citizens. “That’s why we believe the time is coming when every mayor will pay much more attention to this area,” warns Šomplák, noting that many municipalities are gradually introducing technologies like bin chip tagging and automatic weighing.

Once the system is used by the first collection services and researchers fine-tune its operation, they plan to focus on enhancing Popelka with new features – and also expanding it to more users. That’s also why they’ve become partners of the Association of Municipal Services, which includes dozens of collection companies. They also plan to present their system abroad. However, as they admit, in order for the Czech Republic to meet its sorting commitments, the entire waste management system will need to step on the gas.

The Institute of Process Engineering has long been involved in waste-related issues. In January 2023, its experts presented the TiramisO application for forecasting waste production and also helped the Ministry of the Environment create the Czech Republic's Waste Management Plan for the next decade. “We try to involve students in development – from various fields – since it’s a multidisciplinary problem. The truth is that in such complex tasks, an individual can achieve basically nothing,” concludes Šomplák.