Whitespace Work Software’s Commercial Director, Mike Nicholls, discusses how technology can help waste collection authorities and service providers through these most challenging of times and some of the lessons that are already being learnt.
The benefits of digitalisation of waste management operations are becoming well recognised in ‘normal times’, but a number of these features are proving even more valuable during the current crisis.
The identification of waste and recycling employees as ‘Key Workers’ underlines the importance of maintaining effective collection and management services throughout the Coronavirus crisis.
The issues associated with waste going unmanaged have the potential to place even more pressure on our public and health services and must be avoided.
The increased adoption of technology provides authorities with solutions to a number of the challenges they find themselves facing.
To their credit, local authorities have displayed tremendous resilience in recent weeks. Whilst changes have needed to be made, UK residents have on the whole continued to have their waste collected and managed in a safe and sustainable manner.
The increased adoption of technology provides authorities with solutions to a number of the challenges they find themselves facing.
Some of these are directly associated with the day to day collection of residents’ waste, while others are the by-product of changes to related services such as the closing of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs).
Remote working
When the latest restrictions were announced, one of the most immediate challenges was how to comply with the requirement for people to work from home wherever possible.
This change has proved to be far easier for those operating cloud-based systems accessible from any device with internet access.
Those operating is this environment have been able to switch to remote working almost from day one without any discernible reduction in capability or efficiency.
Operational flexibility
It’s unsurprising when talking to our customers that they have experienced a significant reduction in available resources. Absence rates from those who are either ill or self-isolating have often exceeded 20%.
Recent reports show that this is reflected in service provision with approximately 25% of waste collection authorities reporting disruption to recycling services and circa 30% reporting food waste collections being disrupted or suspended.
Close to 30% have suspended garden waste collections and over 50%f have temporarily ceased bulky waste collections.
One common theme in discussions with these customers is the importance of being able to rapidly alter service provision, in order to ensure that waste is collected and managed safely and efficiently.
One common theme in discussions with these customers is the importance of being able to rapidly alter service provision, in order to ensure that waste is collected and managed safely and efficiently.
This intervention is greatly eased by access to systems that allow councils to reroute staff based on available capacity or, where necessary, suspend non-essential services in real time to allow users to do more with less.
The ability to harness the latest information on the availability of disposal depots has also proved to be an important feature of route planning and in-cab systems.
These can ensure crews are directed to an open facility that can accept the waste type they are collecting. With temporary mixed collections (e.g. food and general waste) becoming more prevalent, it is essential that crews have access to the right facilities to ensure that waste can be deposited.
Finally, where councils undertake commercial collection (the service of which has been suspended up to 80%), software can more easily reallocate these resources to essential services such as municipal routes.
Communication
The opportunity technology presents to improve communication with residents is arguably its biggest asset in a time of crisis.
Software systems that can provide a residents’ portal or better still an app capable of sending push notifications can dramatically improve an authority’s ability to provide accurate and timely information to the public.
Clear and targeted communication can significantly improve presentation rates and service efficiency. This in turn reduces the likelihood of residents raising queries or the need for additional journeys to me made.
Vitally, this communication can also be two-way, providing residents with the opportunity to raise queries online and in some circumstances enabling them to resolve matters without direct contact with the council.
Public facing systems such as these are essential to alleviate the pressure on overstretched customer service teams and call centres.
Cross service resource management
The core functionality of systems like Whitespace means that their use is not confined to the management of waste collection.
Pioneering customers such as Ashfield Council have utilised the flexibility of the system to better manage a range of environmental services.
For example, most authorities are seeing an increase in fly tipping, partly due to over 90% of HWRC sites currently being closed.
Relatively minor modifications to flexible systems like Whitespace mean that they could also be deployed to manage clearance services, improving response times and reducing the associated issues.
Pioneering customers such as Ashfield Council have utilised the flexibility of the system to better manage a range of environmental services.
With Defra now seemingly keen to encourage the re-opening of HWRCs where safe to do so, we are also working with customers to repurpose existing parts of their system to introduce a booking system.
This will limit the number of vehicles on site at any one time and enable social distancing to be observed.
It’s important to note that it’s not too late for councils to benefits from the increased use of technology during the current crisis.
Online and modular systems enable users to prioritise the components that will give them the most value at any point in time and at Whitespace we have helped eight new customers go live over recent weeks, despite being unable to physically go onsite.
We are keen and willing to share our experience and knowledge with local authorities and service providers at this critical time and work with them to develop effective and deliverable solutions to the challenges they face.
