Waste is a growing ecological problem that not only threatens the environment and natural ecosystems, but also poses a growing risk to public health. According to statistics, more than half of the world’s population does not have access to regular waste collection. In such cases, unregulated and illegal landfills are formed, which contain more than 40% of waste worldwide.
Environmentalists are keen to identify illegal waste dumps. They have used GPS tracking devices attached to seagulls, which are known to frequent waste dumps. Tracking their routes and collection points has helped uncover one of the largest illegal waste dumps in Spain.
Seagulls are known for being scavengers and scavengers in addition to catching fish. It is therefore not surprising that they often look for food in unregulated landfills, where they are attracted by the smell of organic waste. For this reason, researchers in Spain decided to include seagulls in their research, which will help them detect illegal landfills in Europe with the help of GPS tracking devices.
Jim Baird of Glasgow Caledonian University said that high taxes on regulated landfills are driving people to dump their waste in illegal landfills. Ironically, the cost of cleaning up illegal landfills is even higher for taxpayers. In the UK alone, illegal dumping has cost the country more than £300 million (Environmental Education Association, 2014).
Unfortunately, illegal dumping is extremely difficult to spot, as it is often run by criminals who operate in reputable businesses and are therefore difficult to suspect. For this reason, ecologist Joan Navarro used solar-powered GPS trackers to help, which he and his team at the French National Center for Scientific Research attached to nineteen seagulls.
USING GPS TRACKER TO DETECT ILLEGAL WASTE LANDFILLS
The use of GPS as a waste tracking device is now well known. For this reason, a team of environmentalists from Navarra decided to take advantage of the advantages it offers, and the results were very satisfactory. The GPS-equipped seagulls flew over distances of more than 100 kilometers, but most of the time they stopped at a closed landfill near the Spanish city of Huelva. When the authorities visited the site, they found what they had initially expected. The area was filled with fresh waste that had been dumped without obtaining a permit from the government.
The research process, as described above, is definitely effective and innovative, as Baird proudly confirmed. Since GPS trackers are solar-powered, they can work for years without needing to be recharged. In addition, these devices transmit information every five minutes, providing authorities with information about new illegal dumps that appear from time to time.
Picture 3: Seagull with organic waste
The disadvantage of this type of research is that birds are only attracted to ecological odors. For this reason, researchers cannot track the types of illegal landfills where electrical equipment, construction materials, and other man-made, toxic substances are dumped.
Baird, however, advocates the use of GPS trackers and is campaigning to have them banned across Europe. The method is extremely environmentally friendly and has no negative effects on birds. Appliance landfills can be monitored using satellites and the detection of suspicious changes or activities.
GPS tracking devices are showing more and more positive effects in everyday tasks and also in economic, organizational and ecological progress.
