Abstract:
Plastic pollution is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. Polyethylene
Terephthalate (PET) is 100% most recyclable plastic In Pakistan, 1 million tons of PET
waste is produced every year, however, there is no formal mechanism of PET waste
collection, disposal and recycling.
Learning from global experiences, we aimed to design an indigenous Reverse Vending
Machine (RVM) that is user-friendly, cost-effective and caters to local needs. We designed
and fabricated an RVM with both single and bulk intake able of accept PET bottles and
reject non-PET bottles with high accuracy. For this purpose, we used NIR spectroscopy,
ultrasonic sensors and loadcell for identification of PET bottles. A conveyor and flap
mechanism were used for conveying and diverting the bottles to the rejection chute and
collection bucket.
