Waste management is a key industry in most industrially developed countries throughout the world and is currently undergoing significant modernization and an increase in the use of waste energy. The whole cycle for the storage of waste, through sorting and recycling up to the effective conversion to electricity carries a high risk of fire or self-ignition, causing possible hazard for both personnel and the environment. To counter this, the Czech company Workswell has developed a complete thermal imaging solution, called Waste Bunker Monitor, designed for the continuous inspection of solid waste. For this solution, Workswell makes use of thermal imaging cameras from Flir.

Workswell s.r.o. is a Czech technology development and trading company operating on the Central-European market. The company’s headquarters are based in Prague, Czech Republic. Its main activities include solutions´ delivery in the field of non-contact temperature measurement in many branches of industry. The company's customers are glassworks, foundries, cement plants, municipal waste incinerators, thermal power plants and more.

Challenges Facing the Waste Management Industry

The amount of waste worldwide is still increasing. The Czech Republic alone produces approximately 3.5 to 5.5 million tons of municipal waste on a yearly basis, 75% of which is stored on landfills. Approximately 400,000 tons of that waste is thermally processed in municipal waste incinerators in Prague, Brno and Liberec, amounting to a total heat supply of about 2.3 million Gigajoules and a gross electricity production of about 18,000 Megawatt Hours. The advantage of thermal treatment of waste is, in addition to energy gains, the dramatic reduction in waste volume (approximately 10% or 15% of the original weight). For lots of waste the thermal treatment is practically the only appropriate method of disposal.

The incinerator in the Prague district of Malešice has been operational since 1998. The plant, fully named ZEVO Malešice (Equipment for Energy Recovery) takes care of the transformation of waste into thermal and electric energy. The acquired energy is used as heating of domestic water and heating of residential buildings. 

Waste fires are a genuine threat in waste incineration plants and this is also true for ZEVO Malešice. 

The most common causes of fires at waste incineration plants are spontaneous chemical combustion of waste and hot particles given off by the vehicles that collect the municipal waste. A contributing factor to the risk of fire or devastating explosion is the increased concentration of methane, which is released from the waste during the decay process. In order to reduce the risk of fires, the ZEVO Malešice plant decided to invest in the Waste Bunker Monitor system from Workswell. The main goal of the system is to monitor the plant’s waste storage for emerging fires.

The waste at the ZEVO Malešice plant is imported into a storage tank. This tank is used for the homogenization of materials and to ensure sufficient reserve of waste so that the plant can be operated continuously, 24/7. In this case, Workswell has opted for two Flir A615 cameras with a resolution of 640x480 pixels and with an 80° lens. These cameras monitor the storage tank for hot spots that indicate possible starting fires. “We have found that the Flir A315 or Flir A615 cameras with a resolution of 320 x 240 or 640 x 480 are the best fit for our system," says Jan Kovář, Managing Director, Workswell s.r.o.

Flir A615 Thermal Machine Vision Camera

The Waste Bunker Monitor system from Workswell combines the non-contact measurement technology from Flir Systems with proprietary software which presents plant operators with the critical areas that have an increased risk of fire.

At the ZEVO Malešice plant, two Flir A615 cameras, installed in a protective housing, monitor the storage tank for hot spots that indicate possible starting fires.

Operators can also see a graph with the maximum temperature value evolution of the several different sectors.

As waste management facilities strive to improve efficiency and safety, early fire detection remains a critical priority. The combination of Flir A615 thermal cameras with Workswell’s Waste Bunker Monitor software delivers a proactive solution that continuously monitors waste storage areas for dangerous heat buildup. By providing real-time alerts and actionable insights, this integrated system helps operators prevent costly downtime, protect personnel, and safeguard the environment. In an industry where risk is ever-present, smart thermal monitoring is not just an upgrade—it’s an essential step toward safer, more sustainable waste-to-energy operations.