Plastic Drop-off Tracking Application

A comprehensive system for tracking plastic waste drop-offs with SMS integration, real-time monitoring, and geographic visualization.

System Architecture

Components

1. SMS Gateway - Twilio integration for receiving drop-off reports via SMS
2. API Layer - Express.js REST API for data management
3. Application Logic - Data validation, processing, and user authentication
4. Database - PostgreSQL with PostGIS for geographic data
5. GIS Integration - Location-based queries and spatial analysis
6. Notification System - SMS confirmations and alerts
7. Analytics - Real-time reporting and insights
8. Admin Dashboard - React-based monitoring interface

Tech Stack

Backend

• Node.js + Express.js
• PostgreSQL + PostGIS
• Prisma ORM
• Twilio SDK for SMS
• JWT for authentication
• Winston for logging

Frontend

• React 18
• React Router for navigation
• Chart.js for data visualization
• Leaflet for maps
• Material-UI for styling
• Axios for API calls

Project Structure

plastic-dropoff-tracker/
├── backend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── controllers/
│   │   ├── models/
│   │   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── services/
│   │   ├── middleware/
│   │   ├── utils/
│   │   └── server.js
│   ├── prisma/
│   ├── package.json
│   └── .env.example
├── frontend/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/
│   │   ├── pages/
│   │   ├── services/
│   │   ├── utils/
│   │   └── App.js
│   ├── public/
│   └── package.json
├── docker-compose.yml
└── README.md

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• PostgreSQL 14+ with PostGIS extension
• Twilio account (for SMS functionality)

Backend Setup

1. Navigate to backend directory:

cd backend
npm install

2. Set up environment variables (copy .env.example to .env):

DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/plastic_tracker
JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key
TWILIO_ACCOUNT_SID=your-twilio-sid
TWILIO_AUTH_TOKEN=your-twilio-token
TWILIO_PHONE_NUMBER=your-twilio-number

3. Initialize database:

npx prisma migrate dev
npx prisma generate

4. Start the backend server:

npm run dev

Frontend Setup

1. Navigate to frontend directory:

cd frontend
npm install

2. Set up environment variables (create .env):

REACT_APP_API_URL=http://localhost:3001/api

3. Start the frontend:

npm start

Docker Deployment

docker-compose up -d

Usage

SMS Format for Drop-offs

Users send SMS messages in the following format:

DROP <plastic_type> <quantity> <location>
Example: DROP PET 5 40.7128,-74.0060

Admin Dashboard

Access the dashboard at http://localhost:3000/admin

Features:

• Real-time drop-off map
• Analytics and charts
• User management
• Report generation
• Alert configuration

API Endpoints

Public Endpoints

• POST /api/sms/webhook - Twilio SMS webhook
• POST /api/auth/login - Admin login

Protected Endpoints (require JWT)

• GET /api/dropoffs - List all drop-offs
• GET /api/dropoffs/:id - Get drop-off details
• GET /api/analytics/summary - Get analytics summary
• GET /api/users - List users
• POST /api/notifications/send - Send notification

Security Features

• JWT-based authentication
• Encrypted data transmission (HTTPS)
• Password hashing with bcrypt
• Rate limiting on API endpoints
• SQL injection prevention (Prisma ORM)
• XSS protection
• CORS configuration
• Audit logging

Contributing

Please read CONTRIBUTING.md for details on our code of conduct and the process for submitting pull requests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.