Our project is a Smart Bin Compactor that compacts recyclable waste. This Smart Bin reduces waste volume, provides a sustainable and eco-friendly approach to waste disposal. The problem we are trying to solve is the high amount of waste volume and incorrect waste disposal by encouraging people to acquire a Smart Bin Compactor. We aim to resolve this issue as the world is increasingly growing in population and waste around the world has become a pressing issue. In Birmingham as of January 2025 there has been extreme issues with waste pilling up in the streets. By promoting a Smart Bin Compactor this will reduce this issue and ensure that cities become more clean and greener and society will become more environmentally conscious.
Let's Discover
EcoCompactor
Innovation Fest 2025
About EcoCompactor
UN SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT GOALS
Empowered and Driven:
Delivering Solutions for Global Issues
UN Goal 7: We aim to in the future provide Solar Panels in the EcoCompactor which converts sunlight into electricity that will power the compacting mechanism inside the bin. Solar panels are energy efficient as they store energy in the panel for when the sun is not shining. For the EcoCompactor that is powered by battery it will be integrated with a function where if the bin is not in use it will turn on sleep-mode to minimise energy waste.
UN Goal 11: We will provide Sustainable Cities and Communities through the EcoCompactor by encouraging efficient waste disposal which will reduce waste in streets and communities will become cleaner and greener. Because of the compacting mechanism this means that waste collection services will not have to come as regularly which means that these vehicles will not be releasing as many carbon emissions reducing carbon footprint.
UN Goal 12: The EcoCompactor will provide responsible consumption and production and society will become more aware of how they are efficiently disposing of their waste by compacting trash and minimising the volume of waste increasing storage capacity inside the bin. This promotes a sense of responsibility within society to care for the community the live in, reducing overflown bins and improving waste pollution.
THE STORY BEGAN
DESIGN STORY
Challenges
•Failures with compacting mechanism like jamming.
•Issues with bin durability.
•Sensor issues such as issues with ultrasonic sensor struggling to detect waste level leading to overflow.
•Overflown bins.
•Not many people recycling.
Solution
•Use high-quality components that are strong and durable that will compact waste quickly, efficiently and smoothly.
•With bin durability issues we will resolve this by buying a bin that has a strong hard case and is resistance to pressure and force. Not use of plastic bin but a metal bin.
•For sensor issues with the ultrasonic sensor it is going to be resolved by regulating the sensor for better accuracy.
•Compacting mechanism will ensure this does not happen as the waste will be compacted before it reaches overflowing levels.
•More people will recycle as they will see that this idea is innovative and smart. The rewards points will make more people eager to abide by this option.
Use Case
The purpose of the EcoCompactor is to optimise waste management reducing overflown bins compacting waste volume. This increases storage capacity inside the bin allowing to add more waste for efficient and easy waste disposal. Another purpose of the EcoCompactor is to reduce carbon footprint. This will be done by reducing the amount of times waste collection services have to collect waste which lowers carbon emissions making the city less polluted. This project encourages society to recycle and abide to sustainable approaches to manage waste.
TECHNOLOGIES
List of Essential Tools and Technologies
THE PROCESS
PROTOTYPE DESIGN
The EcoCompactor is an innovative design of a Smart Bin Compactor. This bin is designed to compact waste efficiently, by doing this, it will reduce waste volume inside the bin maximising storage capacity. By compacting waste this will reduce the frequency of waste collection services minimising carbon emissions and reduces carbon footprint. The EcoCompactor is integrated with ultrasonic sensors to detect waste level so that it triggers the compacting mechanism for waste to be compacted. On the lid of the bin there will be attached a lab jack with a linear actuator. These components will be responsible for the compacting mechanism to compress the waste. This is an eco-friendly approach to manage waste efficiently. An LCD display will also be used to interact with users, this will show messages like “Compacting Initiating”, “Waste is being compacted”, “Compacting finished”, “You have been rewarded X points”. These points will be used as a user reward in an app we desire to make so that we can interact with users in a positive way by giving them rewards each time they manage their waste efficiently.
Online Marketing
Creative agency
Web development
PLEDGE
Impact on the market
The EcoCompactor has the capacity to change the market with big impact. This Smart Bin Compactor will offer innovative technology to manage waste efficiently with a sustainable and eco-friendly approach. The EcoCompactor is efficient by reducing waste through compression which benefits waste collection services as the amount of times they have to collect waste will reduce. This minimises the costs involved with every recycling truck having to circulate every week and also reduces carbon emissions. It also promotes an environmental impact promoting and encouraging more and more people to recycle which results in a cleaner and greener city! The economical impact the EcoCompactor has on the market is that it opens up a space for investors to invest in this project, growing and building on new ideas. The EcoCompactor stands out within the market as there is no such bin at the moment for households that automatically compacts waste. This is an innovative idea as the only bin compactor is manual and requires a huge amount of force to compact waste. Our idea is different, it is fully automated and offers the best user experience.
RESULTS
FINAL PRODUCT
The prototype of the EcoCompactor is integrated with a feature that detects waste levels so that it compacts the waste when it is reached a certain capacity inside the bin. This is ideal to have because it prevents overflown bins which is a pressing issue in many homes in their recycling waste. This provides a stress free experience for users as the bin automatically compacts waste when it reaches a safe level.
Another feature is the LCD display which provides live messages for user when the bin is compacting, this provides customer interaction. This feature also displays a code each time the bin is compacted, this code can be used in the app to accumulate points and redeem vouchers and prizes after “X” amount of points collected. If more and more people are attracted to these rewards this means that we will sell more bins and more waste will be recycled in the best way possible.
The compacting process is done with a lab jack that has a metal plate to compact the waste, this ensures durability and a certainty that this metal plate will have a firm press on the waste. What moves the lab jack to compact is a linear actuator to push and close compaction.
All of these features will be coded using C++ programming.