Improper solid waste management is a growing concern in many urban areas, leading to environmental pollution, health hazards, and unsightly living conditions. Manual solid waste collection methods have proven to be inefficient and require a significant amount of human labour. In addition, traditional refuse bins are often overloaded, causing litter to spill onto streets, sidewalks, and other public areas. Thus, there is a need for an efficient and automated waste management system that can reduce the labour and time required for waste collection, improve public health and hygiene, and minimize environmental pollution. Guided by the Design Science Research Methodology, this study explores the design and development of a prototype automated smart refuse bin that utilises a microcontroller equipped with multi-directional proximity detection, bin level detection, temperature and humidity detection, fire detection, automatic lid open/close, bin status display screen, buzzer for alerting disposers, GPS location detection, and SMS notification module for sending alerts to the relevant waste collection agents. Experimental findings highlight the robustness and feasibility of the proposed method, demonstrating its potential as a practical solution for efficient automated waste management and, more importantly, fostering smart city development.

Waste containers Waste disposal Waste management