BIN-E – THE SMART GARBAGE CAN 95 PERCENT SEPARATION RATES DESPITE TIME PRESSURE “Incorrect waste separation is often due to ignorance or a lack of time. We don’t want to prejudge anyone or imply unwillingness, but rather offer a sensible solution,” says Jakub Luboński, CEO and co-founder of Bin-e. The Polish start-up has developed smart garbage cans, 250 of which are already in use in over 20 countries and have been tested at the Münster train station, for example. To date, shopping malls and office complexes have set up the smart garbage cans. They use an image recognition system that takes a picture of the waste as it enters the can. AI then evaluates it in milliseconds in order to transport the trash to the right bin and press it. Sensors monitor the fill level of the four bins, sending a notification to the responsible facility management team when the bins need emptying. A key question the Bin-e developers kept asking themselves was whether customers would even be interested in buying and maintaining these intelligent, yet expensive garbage cans despite getting no financial benefit out of it. After all, waste producers have not yet had to pay for using garbage cans. It therefore quickly became clear that added value had to be created for the operators of the garbage cans: “This is where the ‘smart’ comes into play. We provide our customers with real-time data on usage and waste composition,” Luboński reports. This data is then collected in a cloud and information on the waste collected and the technical condition of the smart garbage cans can be viewed on an app or dashboard. For Luboński, one thing is clear: “It’s not just about having the data, but also about knowing how to use it at the end of the day. For example, it helps to better control material flows or generate valuable data for CSR or EPR reporting.” 33 See Ishitiva (n.d.): The Indian company Ishitava Robotic Systems also sells smart garbage bins. Source: Bin-e33 34
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