Information Technology and Solid Residue Management: A Case of Study Using Freeware and Social Networks

Separation, collection, processing and disposal of waste considered recyclable are currently one of the greatest challenges of human beings in their quest for sustainability. With consumption levels in ever-higher levels, the reutilization of recyclable waste, which would likely target the garbage, becomes an obligation of society as a whole. Thus, addressing in an appropriate manner the issue of selective collection of recyclable materials can contribute to the

solution of several problems associated with it – mostly under the views of

environmental, social and economic ways. This way, the Project iCARE

(Instrumentation for the Assisted Collection of Recyclable Waste) is based on an experiment that aims to provide computational tools that could significantly contribute to the issue of the reuse of solid recyclable waste. Specifically,

the iCARE software aims to contribute to the integration between donors and collectors of recyclable materials, establishing a communication channel where ordinary people or companies may announce the availability of recyclables to collectors. These, in turn, can check through the same software the availability of certain wastes, coming to contact consumers for possible collection and

subsequently forward the waste to processing companies. This software also

offers a "routing module", which allows the collector to establish an optimized collection route according to certain criteria. All software developed in iCARE’s framework must provide a user friendly interface, making its use very simple. iCARE is a project of free use and also a social tool, which seeks to contribute to the solution of the complex problem of disposal of recyclable waste.