Using food waste as a source of renewable energy, a group of computer science students from the Canadian university Dubai (CUD) have created a clever solution that aims to reduce food waste. The Digi-Bin technology was developed to promote ne’ma, the UAE’s national sustainable consumption project, which seeks to reduce food waste by half by 2030.
Called Digi-Bin and made under the theme “Resolving food waste while rewarding you”, it plans to encourage waste recycling by helping consumers to save on their electricity bills. What the solution does is that it takes discarded food products and delivers them to a biogas plant to convert all that waste into biofuel, which can later be put back into the power grid. Those who use this will be given carbon credits which can be exchanged as saving coupons on their electricity bill.
The Digi-Bin was first conceived by the team of Zahab Khan, Prateek Mishra, and Denver Dias, in response to a competition called ‘Future Disruptors’, organized by technology firm, Software AG. The competition called on students to form small groups to present innovative projects that focussed on an aspect of the United Nation’s Global Sustainable Development Goals.
Zahab khan said “We were inspired by an article we read that explained how food waste was costing the UAE around six billion dirhams each year. We wanted to create something that would help tackle this, and that everyone in the UAE could contribute to. The solution involves managing food waste at a household level and actively encouraging users to contribute towards sustainability through the award of carbon credits.”
Explaining more about the technology behind the solution, Denver Dias said “The Digi-Bin uses multiple sensors, which work alongside the Internet of Things to connect the user through a smart app. With the Software AG dashboard, the weight of the food deposited into the Digi-Bin can instantly be calculated and displayed to the user’s mobile app. A filled Digi-Bin is transported to a biogas plant to be converted into biofuel and any food waste that is not suitable for this process is segregated to produce fertilizers.”
Prateek Mishra explained “The hypothesis of the project is that food waste is generated and populated from all corners of the earth. Our generation has been gifted with substantial advancements in technology, which can be applied to pursue sustainability, and this is the essence of our invention.”
The CUD students were chosen from a small group of teams to present their prototype at the ‘Future Disruptors Zone’ at this year’s GITEX, where they showed their dedication to addressing the challenge of global sustainability.
Zahab, Prateek, and Denver are currently trying to improve the technology and create professional networks that will assist move their innovation ahead because they are determined to see their project come to reality in the near future.
