According to recent analysis from ABI Research, the market of smart bins and remote fill-level monitoring solutions for refuse collection is set to grow steadily at a 43% CAGR between 2014 and 2020.
Driven by the need for both municipalities and waste management companies to reduce the costs of waste collection and improve its efficiency, operational smart bins will reach into the hundreds of thousands over the next 5 years.
Eugenio Pasqua, Research Analyst at ABI Research, commented:
“This sector is still in its embryonic phase, with a very low degree of penetration and an ecosystem mostly populated by small and medium-sized players which still do not have either a geographically wide coverage or a substantial volume of deployments to be identified as market leaders.”
“BigBelly Solar has probably gained the most attention in the smart bin segment; however, companies like SmartBin, and Enevo are gaining market traction particularly outside the U.S. market.”
The growth of the market is initially expected to remain confined to the countries and regions where the waste management markets are more mature, with the United States and Western Europe leading the pack. But at the same time, organizations in less developed countries will soon start adopting these solutions, given their immediate benefits and cost effectiveness.
“In the vast majority of current implementations the communication between smart bins and remote monitoring service is provided by cellular connectivity. Cellular technology represents almost 95% of smart bin connections in 2014, and from the look of it this will remain the most popular connectivity option for the years to come.”
Pasqua also notes that cellular could be challenged quite substantially in the coming years by Low-power WWAN technologies from the likes of SIGFOX and Weightless, if they can broaden their geographical coverage and expand their presence in module technologies.
