Challenge

The Bellolampo landfill, managed by RAP (Risorse Ambiente Palermo), covers a vast 9 km² area on a hillside near Palermo and, like many other landfills, has been subject over time to numerous fires, both accidental and intentional.

Fires not only cause significant environmental and economic damage but also release toxic substances, such as dioxins, which are highly hazardous to health. In the past, monitoring was primarily entrusted to on-site personnel, a limited method given the landfill’s size and unable to ensure continuous surveillance across the entire area.

The challenge was clear: RAP required an advanced technological solution for continuous and automatic monitoring of temperatures throughout the landfill area and timely intervention in case of fire outbreaks.

Solution

To meet this challenge, Italtel developed and implemented the “Fire Monitoring” platform, an innovative fire prevention system based on artificial intelligence and computer vision. The system utilizes optical and thermal dual-spectrum cameras mounted on existing light towers and leverages 4G/5G mobile networks for data transmission, eliminating the need for complex cabling. Additionally, two vehicles equipped with mobile cameras patrol harder-to-reach areas. The cameras constantly scan the territory, detecting flames, smoke, or temperature increases beyond predefined thresholds, and generating real-time alerts sent via email, SMS, or phone.

Italtel’s IoXpert platform, the system’s central hub, processes and classifies alerts, keeps a historical record of events, and enables operators to manually verify each notification, ensuring precise and rapid management.

Benefits

The adoption of the Fire Monitoring system has significantly enhanced RAP’s ability to monitor and respond to potential fires.

Thanks to this automated, continuous system, RAP can quickly detect even minimal temperature increases, containing potential fires before they spread and reducing costs and risks associated with waste combustion. The combination of thermal and optical cameras minimizes “false positives” due to environmental factors like fog or dust, improving operational efficiency and precision through computer vision and the IoXpert platform.

Active since July 2024, the system has already proven its effectiveness, preventing fires and contributing to the environmental safety of Palermo. This scalable solution has high potential for application in other contexts, such as recycling centers, where it could encourage correct waste sorting and optimize the management of recycling, thereby supporting RAP’s strategic goals.

In October 2024, RAP was awarded the Innovation Prize at Smau Milano for the ‘Fire Monitoring’ platform developed by Italtel.