Can crush: An automated waste compacting system for public areas

Abstract

Overwhelming amount of waste is generated every year globally. This problem has been shown to be significant interenst in solving the waste managament, e.g. land filling is a common practice. However, environmental issues are presented. In particular, land filling is an expensive method in terms of the volume cost, so compactors are required to accomodate more waste. Different compactors have been developed for both mobile and static usage mode as the automatic compacting receptacles normally used for fast food areas, mall food courts, airports, parks or any public areas. But, they are designed for mixed waste and prevent for recycling. In that sense, this paper aims to present a proof of concept of an automatic compacting recepticle system exclusivey for aluminium cans. Using a mechatronics design, the proposal was implemented in a functional prototype. Preliminary results detected strengths and weaknesses of the proposal, also suggesting that the proposal can be applied for public areas in near future.