Usbin: An Arduino-Based Solid Waste Overflow Alert System

     Due to the rapid growth of population and industrialization, waste collection is slowly becoming inefficient which makes the rising amount of generated waste one of the major challenges for developing countries. The public waste bins are filling up quickly and most of the bins end up overflowing before it is collected, causing not only nuisance but also health and environmental risks. This study proposed to develop a mechanism that will help solve the problem of overflowing garbage bins in public places: a solid waste overflow alert system — usbin.

     Usbin integrates an ultrasonic sensor which is mounted on top of the bin to determine its waste level along with the linear actuator that compresses waste on the inner container to utilize the bin's maximum capacity. Each time the waste reaches the pre-set level, compression occurs. Once the waste is on its maximum level, the GSM module sends an alert to the assigned authority indicating the current waste level of the  bin and the exact location where the bin is positioned via GPS module.

     Numerous modifications, calibrations, troubleshooting and testing on the design were done to ensure that the system renders accurate measurement and well-established connection for the modules used. There were some difficulties encountered with the fabrication of the mechanism though its performance in compressing waste was satisfactory. Overall, after running final tests, the functionality of the system was achieved.