Digitalization of the waste management industry

2024: AI and UAVs made it to the garbage industry as well. "Russian Environmental Operator" reported on the digitalization of waste management

In 2024, the Russian Ecological Operator (REO) updated the digital transformation strategy, designed for a period until 2025, in accordance with the updated methodological recommendations for the digital transformation of state corporations and companies with state participation, approved by the presidium of the legal commission for digital development, and completed a number of important projects in the field of "numbers" and import substitution. The company reports this in its sustainability report, which TAdviser got acquainted with in early September 2025.

This strategy is aimed, among other things, at implementing a strategic direction in the field of digital transformation of the ecology and nature management industry in terms of production and consumption waste management, as well as environmental quality monitoring.

Within this area, REO is creating and developing information systems, digital services in the field of waste management, aimed at expanding the processes of digital transformation of the industry. In 2024, a number of measures were implemented to increase the level of digital maturity of the solid municipal waste (MSW) management industry, including in terms of the transition to the predominant use of Russian software and electronic products.

The key element of the digital infrastructure of the industry is the federal GIS of solid municipal waste accounting (FSIS UTKO), which was put into operation on December 1, 2023. In 2024, for the first time at the federal level, information was collected on the state of the MSW handling industry, REO reports in its report.

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Фото: REO Sustainability Report 2024

In 2024, in the development of the FSIS UTKO, emphasis was placed on the creation of analytical tools and increasing the transparency of the industry, expanding the functionality of data expertise and synchronization of data from government systems:

• an interactive map of the Russian Federation was created, displaying in real time the movement of all garbage trucks in the country, reporting was provided;
• A user interaction module has been created to quickly correct discrepancies in data between information providers.
• implemented regional rating systems, in particular, according to established MSW accumulation standards and tariffs;
• implemented the functionality of extended calculation of optimal MSW transportation routes, including to "virtual" facilities, including transshipment stations, in order to assess the feasibility of their further construction;
• the functionality of monitoring data received from the facilities weight control posts is implemented;
• data storefronts have been created containing information on waste disposal, treatment and disposal facilities, as well as on the current activities of regional operators in the context of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

It was also important that in 2024, work was completed on the creation of an information system for REO to monitor MSW placement facilities. A data processing module using AI tools and an analytics module have been created, which, by using neural network algorithms, allow you to automatically determine 10 types of possible violations of legislation at MSW facilities. The analytics module allows you to process big data stored in the monitoring system, as well as reflect data on objects in the format of dashboards and tables.

At the time of the release of the report on the sustainable development of REO, 998 three-dimensional digital models of polygons located in 78 constituent entities of the Russian Federation were posted in the monitoring system. Digital twins allow you to estimate the residual capacity of objects.

And within the framework of the federal project "Stimulating demand for domestic unmanned aircraft systems," air monitoring was carried out using unmanned aircraft systems in order to assess the actual state of solid municipal waste disposal facilities. It was carried out, among other things, with the help of thermal imagers installed on drones and allowing to assess and predict possible smoldering and ignition at MSW facilities. In 2024, 400 digital 3D models of MSW placement facilities were built. They made it possible to determine key parameters of objects using a single method, including the maximum residual capacity, accumulated waste volumes, elevations, slope angle steepness.

In the reporting period, the databases of the REO information system for monitoring MSW placement facilities were included in the register of domestic software.

Since 2024, REO also provides the operation of a unified federal state information system for recording waste from the use of goods (EFGIS UOIT), which is designed to automate the processes of collecting, processing and storing information in the field of waste management from the use of goods and secondary resources.

Achievement of performance indicators established in the digital transformation strategy (sample)

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Фото: REO Sustainability Report 2024

In addition, since October 2024, all regional operators have been provided with the MSW Driver mobile application, a tool for objective monitoring of the removal of solid municipal waste, free of charge. AI algorithms have been created that allow you to quickly assess based on photo and video data on the state of container sites and the quality of the MSW removal service provided to the population.

The AIS "Automation of Regional Operator Processes" (AIS APRO), created with the participation of REO and commissioned on December 1, 2023, is still operating, which allows regional operators to optimize the work on the removal of MSW. At the end of December 2024, 11 contracts were concluded for the use of the AIS APRO license with 17 regional operators (21 zones of activity). And 2 regional operators use the AIS APRO license in pilot mode. Work on concluding contracts with regional operators continues.

In 2024, the development of the REO information portal on digitalization "Digital REO," commissioned at the end of 2023, continued. It was created for industry participants interested in the development and digitalization of the field of MSW management, and provides them with information about modern digital solutions on the market, including products using big data technologies, artificial intelligence, unmanned aerial vehicles, IoT, etc. Within the framework of the portal, a register of IT solutions was created, the formation of which is carried out on the basis of proposals and best practices of market participants. At the end of 2024, 25 digital products were posted in the register in the areas of MSW and other waste management, circular economy, eco-monitoring, UAVs.

Special attention was paid to import substitution. REO claims that in 2024 it ensured the transition to the use of Russian software in more than 10 classes of software, including: virtualization tools, database management tools, general-purpose operating systems, backup tools and office packages. And the share of expenses for domestic software and electronic products in the total volume of the company's corresponding expenses in the reporting period has already reached 100%.

Import substitution also affected the information security circuit. In particular, in 2024, the REO created a secure data transmission network and an firewall system based on domestic solutions, as well as introduced domestic data storage and virtualization systems.

The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Russian Federation notes that over the years of MSW reform, Russia has gone a swift path from illegal landfills to the digitalization of the garbage industry. During the implementation of the federal project "Comprehensive MSW Management System," 295 MSW management facilities were introduced, and by the end of 2024 the share of MSW processed increased to 55.1%. But for waste to become resources, you need to form a circular model of the economy.

To move to a circular economy, it is necessary to introduce technologies that will turn the waste management industry into a supplier of valuable, environmentally friendly resources and at the same time into a science-intensive industry that uses the most modern achievements. Digital twins and unmanned vehicles, big data analytics and decarbonization - all this is already becoming a reality for the industry today, - the words of Sergei Yegorshev, adviser to the general director on environmental monitoring and scientific and technical development of the REO, are quoted in the report on sustainable development.

2022: Mishustin approved REO by the GIS operator of household waste accounting

In May 2022, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree approving the regulation on the state information system for accounting for municipal solid waste. In accordance with the document, the Russian Environmental Operator will be responsible for the creation and development of the new platform. Read more here.