Managing the unexpected: a new operational intelligence for environmental services.

Contarina, a leading public company in waste management in Veneto (Italy), boasting one of the highest recycling rates in Europe, has embarked on a new strategic challenge: optimising the management of on-demand environmental services.

Operations such as bulky waste collection or container replacement are difficult to plan in advance, yet essential to ensure the cleanliness of urban areas and the satisfaction of their inhabitants. 

To address these challenges, Contarina partnered with Optit to develop an advanced two-step solution, designed to transform uncertainty into efficiency:

1. Capacity Planning
   A forecasting module calculates weekly requirements for staff and vehicles, anticipating fluctuations in demand (e.g. seasonal or based on local events). This makes it possible to allocate resources a few days in advance without compromising on flexibility.
2. Daily Planning
   Optimisation algorithms schedule incoming orders on a daily basis: routes are generated, resources assigned, and optimal sequences allocated for each service. All key processes are integrated into a web-based software platform connected to Contarina’s systems, ensuring real-time, agile, and efficient management.

Concrete benefits:

• enhanced responsiveness to fluctuations in demand, even in unforeseen scenarios;
• increased operational efficiency thanks to optimisation models tailored to each service type;
• quick balancing of costs and service levels, even in the case of emergency contexts.

This project is a real-world application of Industry 4.0 principles to the environmental services sector: the integration of predictive algorithms and operational intelligence as an effective driver for the digital transformation of public services. It is a replicable innovation model that can mitigate environmental impact while offering many benefits for citizens.