Reverse vending machine for managing plastic waste

Abstract

Managing plastic waste is an important point of concern these days. The aim of this paper is to present the concept of reverse vending machine which is proposed to serve as a solution to the problem of pollution caused due to plastic items especially plastic bottles, which are commonly used for storing cold drink, fruit juices etc. The concept of reverse vending machine is an approach towards green engineering technology. The reverse vending machine is an integration of sensorics, LabVIEW programming along with data acquisition and pneumatics technology. This machine is a low-cost automatic machine, which crushes the plastic bottle to a reduced size, thereby, requiring less storage space for final disposal. The crushed plastic bottle consumes less energy, when it undergoes recycling process. The present article also focuses on the concept of cash-from-trash, where recycled plastic can be used to produce useful products and help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.