Riells i Viabrea puts an end to illegal waste dumps

Initial situation

Illegal dumping and public spending

Riells i Viabrea has experienced a lack of control of waste dumping in recent years. A minority sector of the population made incorrect use of the waste services, which resulted in the throwing of junk, or in bad recycling practices, for example. This misuse meant, according to City Council estimates, “an increase of 6% in the annual costs of the landfill compared to normal expenditure”.

On the other hand, residents of other municipalities with door-to-door collection, dumped their garbage and other objects not allowed in the municipality. As a result, in addition to the collection service, the intervention of the brigade was also needed to deal with the problem. The councilman in charge of security, Felipe González, notes that “this meant an increase in the cost associated with garbage collection.”

Motivations for change

In addition to the motivations of improvement and optimization of waste management, the City Council was aware of the discomfort that this situation generated for the citizens. Therefore, the City Council decided to implement a video surveillance solution for the control of illegal dumping, not only to improve the hygiene of the dumping areas, but also to promote good recycling practices.

The solution

A strategic and effective solution

Once Alphanet’s solution became known, a field investigation was carried out, and according to the councilman, “very positive references about Alphanet were found in other municipalities”.

Another reason for choosing Alphanet Security’s solution was purely strategic. Riells i Viabrea has 11 housing developments, which posed a challenge when it came to controlling this problem. For this reason, a video surveillance solution with automatic alerts is a very appropriate solution, as it allows the simultaneous control of remote areas, avoiding patrolling or physical surveillance of the dumping areas.

Approach and implementation

The project, in this first phase, consists of 6 discharge control points, strategically distributed in the most problematic areas. At the same time, the City Council has adapted the administrative protocol in order to be able to sanction offenders who are easily identified with the new system. According to Mr. Gonzalez, “now they can identify offenders without the inconvenience of having to catch them in the act “at the right moment of the infraction for the sanction to be valid”. He adds that “in this way it is very easy to identify the offender and issue the relevant sanction. The guards have congratulated us on the implementation of the solution because it is already one more tool in their work”.

Current status

Immediate positive change

The safety councilman emphasizes that they are “very happy with the systems (…) There has been an almost radical decrease in illegal dumping in the municipality. Before, the dumping points were dirty and there was abandoned junk; now there is an incredibly different situation. Regarding the immediacy of the results obtained, he points out that “when any action of this type is taken, we expect long-term results; but in this case, an immediate and total change has been observed. “

Return on investment

The solution, which has been operational since December 9, has made it possible to process around 70 complaints for uncivic actions, some of them against repeat offenders. On the other hand, last month 9 tons less waste was sent to the landfill service, which has led to a reduction in the expenditure related to this service.

Future actions

With the results of the first months in hand, the City Council is already thinking of new ways to improve the dumping areas: “The Environment Department is already studying ways to complement the solution, making the dumping points more attractive for the neighbors; and also expanding the control points with video surveillance systems in other dumping points of the municipality”.