Real-time bin collection updates for residents now live – a UK first

Residents can now track their bin collections in real time after Brighton & Hove City Council launched pioneering new technology in its refuse vehicles.

The council’s environmental services department has been undergoing a period of rapid modernisation as part of the local authority’s commitment to address historic issues with the service.

The latest innovation sees the introduction of real-time in-cab technology to replace the old paper-based system. 

Collection vehicles will be connected directly to residents, with updates available as they happen through the council’s website and MyAccount service.

This means residents can track the progress of their refuse and recycling collections and see when they are completed.

An automated system will instantly flag any that have been missed, reducing the need for residents to proactively report missed collections.

Where a collection is missed, the technology will reallocate to another crew if available. Residents will then be able to see the details of the rescheduled collection. Reports now only need to be made if a bin that is marked as completed on the system is not collected in reality.

It is believed the council is the first in the UK to provide this real-time update service.

The council’s team are also looking at easier ways for residents to report full communal street bins, which will feed directly to crews. As part of a commitment to being more transparent about how the service is performing, the council will start to report weekly on how the service performed the previous week on its website in the new year.

Councillor Tim Rowkins, Deputy Leader and Cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services at Brighton & Hove City Council, said: “Our team has been working incredibly hard to reduce the number of missed collections and has made amazing progress in recent months – all while also collecting an expanded range of materials for recycling and launching the new food waste service.

“This new technology means we can manage the service much more efficiently, and crucially, make sure residents know what is happening.

“I particularly want to thank our collection crews. Aside from doing an amazing job in all weathers, they have helped to test this new technology. Their knowledge and real-world feedback has been crucial in getting it ready to go live.

“To enable the system in our vehicles to link directly with residents, we built a bespoke Application Programming Interface (API) to make sure updates are passed instantly from our vehicles to our residents.

“We believe we are the first council anywhere in the country to provide this real-time information. It is a great example of how we’re using digital innovation not only to help our hard-working staff but also to provide a better service to our residents.”