Student develops automated bin system to help solve Kenya’s waste problem while paying users [Video]

A Kenyan student, Eric Munene, has developed an innovative automated waste collection and management system that is being hailed as a solution to the country’s waste problems.

The proprietor of Greensmart Solutions and a student at the Multimedia University of Kenya showcased his innovation at the inaugural Young Scientists Kenya exhibition, which was held at the Kenya International Conference Center in August, reports Capital Fm.

The Young Scientists Kenya is a newly established platform in East Africa for young people from across Kenyan counties to demonstrate their innovation and showcase their scientific creations.

Speaking with Capital Fm, Munene said the idea to innovate this system is to give money and value back to people for the waste that they have, using a technologically-advanced system of analysing the waste and rewarding its users for it.

“There is a large pile of plastics floating in our oceans. There is a crisis because of our climate, and it is all because the previous generation did not put much emphasis on recycling the water. So we came up with the project, where we are giving incentives to our users and we get back the money and create a circular economy where manufacturers do not use up what is on the earth but recycle what they have already produced,” he shared with The Sauce.

The automated bin system model also encourages the reduce, reuse, and recycling of environmental conservation models, using AI ( Artificial Intelligence) and machine learning for robotics to sort out the waste.

The reward system app integrated into the model encourages Kenyans to recycle and earn points for doing so.

Munene’s automated bin management system is set to roll out across Kenyan university campuses first, before expanding to the public.

Other young and innovative Kenyans have been inventing devices and systems that are believed to become the technological game-changers for the country and the continent in the next few years.

Earlier this year, Face2Face Africa reported on how a 25-year-old electronics engineer from Kenya, Roy Allela, had developed Sign-IO – a smart glove that converts sign language movements into audio speech.

Roy Allela’s invention is to help children with speech and hearing impediments. According to a report by The Guardian, the gloves have “flex sensors stitched on to each finger. The sensors quantify the bend of the fingers and process the letter being signed.

“The gloves are paired via Bluetooth to a mobile phone application that Allela also developed, which then vocalises the letters.” Allela’s goal is to place at least two pairs of the award-winning gloves in every special needs school in Kenya.