Internet of Things for Plastic Bottle Recycling: A Case Study for Salinas

Waste generation is growing worldwide because of urbanization and population growth. Plastic bottles are being discarded incorrectly polluting the environment and wasting resources. Reverse vending machines that work with the Internet of Things offer a great possibility to promote plastic bottle recycling at locations where recycling is not compulsory. For the first phase, the current plastic bottle waste management system was determined for the municipality of Salinas using a literature review, interviews, and field visits. An improved model was suggested to address the main concerns and promote plastic recycling among other materials. An important part of the model is reverse vending machines for plastic bottles. Phase two relates to the design of the reverse vending machine. The researchers performed a literature review to determine the features of different reverse vending machines with IoT technology. A process flow chart was elaborated to establish the different systems for the machine. Once the characteristics of the machine were determined it was drawn using Autocad 3D. The machine designed detects, collects, compresses, and storages empty plastic bottles up to 1 L. The electronic circuit includes the Internet of Things technology to award economic compensation for recycling and alert when the storage bin needs to be emptied to avoid overload, using Wi-Fi communication. These machines should be implemented in central locations like supermarkets, restaurants, and schools around the municipality of Salinas and evaluated for other municipalities of the province of Santa Elena and Ecuador.