Living with a stink? Technology might help

The operators of Newby Island landfill have been ordered to take action over odours affecting Milpitas, an affluent city in California's Silicon Valley tech hub. For decades, residents have had to endure unpleasant smells wafting from industrial sites, including a 342-acre landfill.

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"When I first moved here, I could not open my window for over 10 years," says Chia-Ling Kong, an engineer for a tech firm living around half a mile from the dump. While conditions have improved in recent years, Kong notes that she and her neighbours still experience around two to three hours of bad smells a day.

In a bid to tackle the issue, the community is placing its hopes in technology. Local authorities have mandated the landfill operators to utilize drones and install monitors to systematically track and measure the chemicals responsible for the odours. They have also been instructed to automate the collection of landfill gases that contribute to the smells.

Kong is optimistic about this data-driven approach.

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"Hopefully with this continuous monitoring, it makes it easier to pinpoint problems at the moment it starts."

The landfill operators have expressed their commitment to operating safely and protecting air quality. Similar complaints about unpleasant odours are being raised by communities worldwide, whether from rubbish dumps, sewage treatment works, or factories.

Resolving these complaints is often complicated. Many countries lack regulations governing how to manage odours. In the US, for instance, the Environmental Protection Agency does not classify environmental odours as pollutants, leaving states and local governments to address the issue. Urban sprawl has exacerbated the problem, bringing communities closer to facilities that were historically distanced.