Amarsul, the company responsible for the treatment and recovery of urban waste in nine municipalities of the Setúbal Peninsula, partnered with Lixo to address a recurring operational challenge: the lack of real-time visibility into the composition and quality of the materials collected through selective flows.

To solve this, the pilot involved the installation of a camera with integrated software in the rear-loading area of the collection vehicle. As each container is emptied, the system performs automatic, real-time characterization of the materials entering the hopper. This enables continuous monitoring of selective material flows and provides granular data on: composition of each load, identification and tracking of contamination sources, quality and quantity of material delivered to the sorting center.

The insights generated support optimized routing, better processing flows, and more targeted awareness campaigns focused on improving material purity at origin.

By combining computer vision and data analytics with real operational contexts, this pilot demonstrates how digital monitoring technologies can significantly improve recycling system efficiency and strengthen the foundations for a more circular and data-driven waste management ecosystem.