Proactive odour monitoring and complaints resolution at a waste management site.
A North American waste management authority on the west-coast needed to find a solution for faster resolution of odour complaints from the local community.
A regional agency established in the 1970s through a joint exercise of powers agreement between local county and neighboring cities to own, operate and maintain a sanitary landfill and all related improvements.
Region
Industries
Platforms
Challenge
The landfill was originally developed in a remote location but due residential rezoning over time, the buffer zones with the community have been reduced to merely a few hundred feet from the fence line, resulting in higher probability for community complaints. The waste management authority needed a solution to validate odour measurements peaks with historical data, understand the source of emissions, demonstrate operational transparency, and educate the community citizens on the issues of odours.
Another added complexity to this situation is the location of the facility since it is located among other industries such as biomass, biofuel, and waste oil recycling. The agency needed a method of reporting to be able to confirm or refute responsibility of odour complaints generated by its operations.
"Envirosuite’s EVS Omnis has become part of our daily routine to help us understand our potential emissions so that we can minimise and mitigate impact on the local community, while maintaining operations. As members of the community, it’s important that we consider those around us and proactively manage emissions so that we can continue to operate and serve our community members."
- Engineering Technician at the facility
Solution
To overcome challenges and stay on top of its environmental impact, the agency contracted Envirosuite for its environmental management software, EVS Omnis. The platform enabled the waste management authority to measure, monitor and manage the emissions from the site while understanding when their facility is not responsible for emissions.
Envirosuite’s intuitive software allowed the site operators to visualise the probable cause of emissions at any of the sensors deployed. The software uses reverse trajectory modelling to track and identify the origin of a measurement when it exceeds predefined thresholds.
Result
Since the implementation of EVS Omnis, the waste management team now monitors odour around the facility in real-time and has been able to take a proactive approach towards complaints management. The environmental intelligence software is now an integral part of the facility’s core operations, providing daily odour risk reports when emissions may be higher, appending historical data with incoming complaints and allowing them to pinpoint the source, as well as plume data that can be used in response to community complaints.
With Envirosuite, the waste management authority is managing the changes to urbanisation around the facility and utilising data to its advantage to build trust and renew social licence to operate as residential areas continue to expand. It is also helping the management to prepare for future operations by having data and insights that will help as the regulations change or emissions increase due to growth in food and waste composting relative to population growth.
Reduce odour related complaints from the local community.
Lower the cost of odour reduction strategies.
Build a social license to operate in the community
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