Easy by Nord Engineering: bilateral collection becomes integrated and data-driven

In today’s cities, urban waste management calls for an ever more advanced balance between operational efficiency, sustainability and integration with the urban setting. In this scenario, the bilateral collection developed by Nord Engineering with the Easy system, now in more than 20 countries worldwide, is a concrete evolution of traditional models, with a direct impact on how the service is organised.

Being able to work on both sides of the street with a single automated, single-operator unit brings a change of paradigm: the system adapts to the city, not the other way round. Containers can be placed more flexibly, even in narrow or one-way streets, with no complex manoeuvres or reversing. The result is a smoother, safer service with less impact on traffic.

The benefits are also economic. More linear routes help reduce fuel consumption and vehicle wear, while optimised operating cycles often make it possible to cover the same area with fewer vehicles. This structural efficiency means lower operating costs and a lower overall environmental impact.

From an urban planning point of view, bilateral collection widens the options for designing the service. Collection points can be integrated more consistently with the available space and traffic flows, improving accessibility, urban decorum and the quantity and quality of sorted waste. Waste management thus becomes a full part of mobility and public space planning, no longer as a problem but as part of the solution.

This is where automation adds value. Easy guarantees a fully automated emptying cycle, managed from the cab through a new-generation console. The F-90 device ensures precise, controlled coupling, avoiding impacts and damage and improving service continuity. The speed and repeatability of the operation, impossible to achieve manually, mean less disruption to traffic and greater safety for operators, as well as effective control of maintenance costs.

The latest evolution of the system is Easy NR, which integrates Artificial Intelligence, advanced sensors and data analysis tools. Its algorithms enable automatic container recognition, virtualisation of the work area and continuous optimisation of operations. Together with Nord Engineering smart containers, made of recyclable steel and ready for fill-level sensors, user identification and IoT, the Easy System becomes a strategic source of data for efficient route planning and precise monitoring of the service from a Smart City perspective.

Confirming the flexibility of the model, Nord Engineering has also recently developed Easy Junior, a solution designed for historic centres and complex urban settings. With more compact, robust containers and an even more agile bilateral lifting device, the system extends the advantages of automated collection on both sides of the street to the most confined spaces.

Today, Easy’s bilateral approach, integrated and enhanced by digital technologies, is not just a technical solution but an evolved collection model: more efficient, flexible and data-driven, able to respond concretely to the needs of the cities of today and tomorrow.