Meram Gains Both Environment and Budget Benefits with Smart Waste Management System

Meram Municipality has successfully integrated the opportunities offered by the digitalizing world into its services and achieved significant gains in both environmental management and the municipal budget through its “Smart Waste Management System.”

Launched as a pilot project in November 2022 and expanded across the district as of April 2023, the system has quickly become a model practice thanks to the tangible results it has delivered in a short period of time, earning recognition as an exemplary application.

The system monitors the fill levels of waste containers in real time through sensors installed in the bins. Based on the collected data, automatic routes are generated for collection vehicles, and only the containers that have reached a certain fill level are emptied. In this way, unnecessary fuel consumption is prevented, and personnel time is used in the most efficient manner. This innovative approach provides a significant increase in efficiency compared to traditional waste collection methods.

Thanks to smart route optimization, unnecessary trips of waste collection vehicles have been eliminated, while fuel consumption and labor usage have significantly decreased. As a result, transportation costs have been reduced by up to 25 percent on a monthly basis, making a substantial contribution to the municipal budget. This achievement, made possible through lower fuel use, reduced time loss, and more efficient workforce utilization, once again highlights the tangible benefits of smart city applications.

Another important pillar of the savings is the early warning system. Thanks to sensors that detect temperature increases in containers, potential fires can be intervened in immediately. Through this system, 36 containers have been prevented from burning so far, avoiding approximately 6 million TL in material damage.