WMS for selective waste collection and efficient recycling

Environmental protection and the shift to a circular economy are the priorities of the current period. Here’s how one may achieve sustainable logistics through selective collection and proper recycling of waste, including packaging waste. Activities in warehouses are diverse and resource-intensive. Here’s how you achieve greater efficiency with WMS systems and, at the same time, organize your business in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way.

The role of WMS for selective waste collection and efficient recycling

In general, WMS (Warehouse Management Systems) are software solutions used to manage and optimize activities in warehouses. WMS functionalities include digitalization and monitoring of warehouse processes, including reverse logistics, to ensure the full traceability of operations and goods as well as improve efficiency and productivity. The WMS systems collect and process data about available stocks, their locations in warehouses and other relevant information related to customer order processing and warehouse activities. By processing the collected data, these systems optimize activities and ensure both efficient warehouse management  as well as fast optimal distribution of products ordered by customers.

In addition to ensuring efficient warehouse management, WMS systems can also play an important role in the management of selective collection and recycling of waste, including packaging waste. These applications help to achieve tighter monitoring of collected waste, leading to higher recycling, reuse or recovery rates and less waste to be disposed of.

Axes Software’s WMS system, xTrack WMS, can also be extremely useful to those involved in waste management, such as waste management companies, collection facilities and/or recycling companies or companies that want to manage their own waste internally before handing it over to specialized waste management companies. This software solution can be used to collect and process data on the types of waste, the stocks collected by material (plastic, metal, paper, glass, wood, textiles), storage locations, where they come from (source), where, what type and in what quantity they will be delivered for recycling, reuse, recovery or disposal. By implementing such a system, companies have full traceability of their operations and the waste they manage.

In short, the use of WMS systems in waste management brings many benefits: reduced operational costs, lower risk of human error, full traceability, improved efficiency of the data collection process for packaging (and other) waste data.

And, of course, it should also be mentioned that the software solutions allow user companies to easily comply with the legal regulations in force in this field. With the help of technology, producers of non-hazardous or hazardous waste, authorized companies carrying out waste treatment activities, companies collecting or transporting hazardous or non-hazardous waste or acting as traders and brokers of hazardous and non-hazardous waste may easily keep a monthly chronological record, publish it in tabular format and make it available to the county environmental protection agency electronically in the system provided by the National Environmental Protection Agency (ANPM), by 15th March of the year following the reporting year, and on request to the competent control authorities, taking into account:

• the waste code, the quantity in tonnes, the nature and origin of the waste generated and the quantity of products and materials resulting from preparation for re-use, recycling or other recovery and disposal operations;
• the destination, frequency of collection, mode of transport and intended method for the waste treatment, where relevant; and
• the quantity of waste in tonnes sent for disposal,

thus complying with Law No. 17/2023 approving Government Emergency Ordinance No. 92/2021 on the waste regime.

Moreover, through digitalization, the monthly chronological record shows a high degree of accuracy of waste management and can be kept without any problems in the database for the periods of time specified by law. 

Also, storing the data collected during waste management activities in WMS applications helps to facilitate the process of reporting information to the competent control authorities. Sanitation companies collecting garbage, for example, can report annually to the county environmental protection agency the quantities of generated and managed waste, the quantities of separately collected recyclable waste, including bio-waste, and the quantity of waste prepared for reuse and recycling in the register(s) set up by ANPM, by selecting and exporting the stored information directly from the application database.

Selective waste collection and recycling process optimization with WMS

When you are researching how to implement logistics software, you should also consider the possibilities to optimize selective waste collection and recycling activities by making efficient use of the available modules and functionalities. Here’s how this is done for WMS systems:

Assessment of the needs imposed by waste collection and recycling processes within the company

The first step in optimizing selective waste collection and recycling processes is to assess your company’s needs and objectives. In order to meet these needs, the most appropriate WMS functionalities must be identified. Depending on your company’s resources as well as management and reporting needs, you can decide whether to implement a stand-alone WMS customized to your requirements that enables you to monitor waste collection processes. Or you can choose to integrate it with other management systems with waste management functionalities or even connect it to industrial scales to record quantities collected.

A WMS solution implemented in a factory’s raw materials and WIPs warehouse can receive additional waste data from other applications. xTrack MES, for example, has functionalities to record scrap resulted from processing operations. For this reason, in manufacturing plants, integrating such an application with the xTrack WMS in the warehouse helps to reduce the time and effort required to monitor and manage scrap so that scrap that can no longer be used for further processing, but is recyclable waste, can be subtracted from available stocks and diverted to specialized recycling companies.

In addition to WMS applications, even PMS solutions (Packaging Management System) designed for managing returnable packaging items (reusable, used for transporting goods (pallets, crates, etc.)) can help you to easily identify the damaged ones for refurbishment or the destroyed ones for transport to waste collection centers, grouped according to the materials they are made of.

In the context of waste stock management, transporting waste is also important. With xTrack TMS, trips can be planned and collection and/or distribution routes, optimized, and transport and maintenance costs, reduced. In addition, the integration of the TMS with the WMS solution ensures traceability of the collected waste stocks transported, stored and redirected to their final destinations.

Implementation of WMS with respect to waste collection and recycling priorities

Once the needs have been identified, start the WMS solution deployment process. This involves configuring the system to match the specifications and requirements for selective waste collection and recycling. For example, you can establish clear workflows for employees and define special areas for storing different types of waste. Whether it is WMS as a SaaS application or WMS as a web-based application, your company needs to benefit from the best solutions for managing logistics flows of collection, reuse, recycling, recovery or disposal. This is the only way to ensure that your operations comply with the sustainability principles and provide the prerequisites for efficient long-term business development.

Training of employees to apply procedures for efficient selective waste collection and recycling

For an effective use of the WMS, it is essential that all employees involved in the selective waste collection and recycling process are well trained. The training and training sessions should also cover issues related to the correct use of the implemented software solution, the understanding of the reports generated by the WMS application and the ability to solve any problems that may arise. In this way, employees will be able to correctly use the WMS modules and functionalities and contribute to environmental protection by making the selective waste collection and recycling process more efficient.

Monitoring and evaluation of the performance of the WMS for separate waste collection and recycling

It is advisable to also consider integrating procedures for monitoring and evaluating the performance of the WMS system into your separate collection and recycling activities. In this way, you will quickly identify problems in the way the application functions or during operational processes within your company. Monitoring includes, where appropriate, analysis of data generated by the system, such as quantities of waste collected, by material, quantities transferred for recycling, remaining stocks or information on collection and storage operations, sources and destinations of waste, etc. Performance evaluation is carried out by comparison with the targets initially set and allows identification of opportunities for process or monitoring improvement.

The overall waste recycling and recovery targets set by legislation for the coming years are ambitious, but achieving them requires coordination of activities and efficient management of the waste streams. Software solutions can play a key role in tracking progress. Use them and you will see the difference.

***

With the help of Logistics 4.0 applications, companies benefit from efficient means to implement digital systems for the management of their work processes, be it for warehousing, transport or delivery of goods, or collection and recycling of packaging waste. Together with other supply chain management applications, WMS (Warehouse Management Systems) solutions have a significant impact on the circular economy and sustainable development.

Through their functionalities, WMS systems contribute to reducing resource consumption, losses and the amount of waste that is not used in any way by optimizing work processes and data collection. Would you like to use such an application in your company? If so, we look forward to hearing from you – fill in any form on our website and we will contact you within 48 hours.

And if you have other logistics activities to streamline, in addition to the xTrack WMS system, Axes Software specialists also offer other software solutions for efficient supply chain management. You will benefit not only from the advantages of implementing one or more complex logistics software solutions, but also from project management, expert advice, support and help desk assistance.