Smart trash IoT technology monitors the municipal solid waste stream by material type of waste, location, and amount, which may increase recovery of recyclable material. Also, real-time data can be gathered from public smart waste bins using IoT sensing. Patterns can then be used to improve the efficiency of fleet collection, improve maintenance practices of the fleet and facilities, and help to optimize and shape the activity of other waste stream actors such as downstream recycling facilities, waste-to-energy applications and logistics for collection of recovered materials.