04-07-16 Students in northern Greece awarded for smart recycling bin

A group of students from the northern Greece high school of Pydna Kolindros Alonion,  in Pieria prefecture,  have clinched the first prize in a competition for the “Best student virtual business  of 2016”.

The project involved the creation of a smart, eco-friendly recycling bin that the students dubbed “Smiley Bin”

The student team participated in the tenth final competition, organized by the Association for Youth Entrepreneurship/Junior Achievement Greece, which took place on June 24 at the Ellinikos Kosmos cultural centre, under the auspices of the education ministry.

The smart recycling bin developed by the students has an automated opening system powered by photovoltaics, a keyboard for entering one’s code, a built-in scale to weigh recycled paper, aluminum and glass, a system for transmission of data via Wi-Fi to the manufacturing company, and returns to users either via credit points  (commercial centres and supermarkets) or through a reduction in municipal taxes.

According to their smileybin.com website, the student companycreates recycling bins (plastic, metal, glass) made of aluminum, which are self-manageable and which include a photovoltaic panel for an automated opening of the host port for the recyclable materials.

Users can open the garbage bins through a card, using a client code provided by the responsible company or the Municipalities. In the inside of the recycling bins there will be integrated scales or a basis of load cells, which will be able to calculate the weight of the recyclable materials the users put in the bins, while the respective price will be credited in the personal card of each user through a wifi system .

The credit will be transformed in bonus for the users provided by the responsible company (e.g. reduction on council taxes, vouchers).