Wastelogist has turned 10. The digital guide to environmental services launched in 2012 by the Hera Group has gained an ever wider audience and, to date, has been downloaded more than 750 times and has also been used in the north-eastern areas served by AcegasApsAmga (since 2015) and in those in which Marche Multiservizi operates (since 2021).
In its first 10 years, the app has not only increased the number of users and the geographical area by helping customers navigate the complicated world of collection. The Rifiutologo, in addition to the basic functions - such as the possibility of finding out in which bin a particular waste should be placed, also through the bar code, or the sending of a geolocated photo to signal the need for an intervention (for example in the case of broken or abandoned bins) – has also evolved in terms of services with increasingly advanced options and in step with the needs of today's hyper-connected life. From the possibility for Hera Group customers to consult the calendar of door-to-door collections in their area to the integration of the waste specialist with Amazon's Alexa.
Waste specialist: the new function for bulky waste collection is underway
The latest news concerns the possibility of booking the free home collection of bulky waste through the Rifiutologo app. With a few gestures, from your phone or tablet, it is now possible to request intervention directly at home: the system will provide the first available date, and only if this is not compatible with the citizen's utilities will it be necessary to call customer service to change the appointment.
Where do I throw it? The most loved function that answers every doubt
"Il Rifiutologo" offers a list with 4.000 items that can be consulted: by typing in the material to be thrown away, the right place to confer the waste immediately appears. For consumer products, it is possible to scan the "barcode" with the mobile phone to immediately receive information on how to separate waste collection. Furthermore, if a material is not present in the database, the citizen can report it via the application, Hera will then update the archive.
In 2021, users used the “Where do I throw it?” for about 2,5 million searches, of which almost 600 thousand in the municipalities of the Bologna area alone. In the province of the Due Torri, the most frequent question concerned the destination of the used clothes (with 16 thousand requests), followed by that of pizza cartons (12 thousand) and, tied with about 10 thousand questions, polystyrene packaging e tetra pack. Data that demonstrate the will of citizens to make a quality separate collection, so as to feed more and more quantities of material to be sent for recycling and recovery.
Furthermore, thanks to the Rifiutologo, citizens can contribute in a concrete way to the dignity of their city, by sending reports, including geolocated photographs, of any abandoned waste, bins that are overfilled or damaged.
The photo notification reaches Hera's technicians directly who, once the intervention has been carried out, send a notification informing the customer that the problem has been solved. In the province of Bologna, in 2021 alone, this collaboration took the form of almost 75 reports sent and resolved.
