Research on Automatic Waste Segregation

With advancing urbanization, industrialization, and population rise, the global world is in the grip of a terrifying boom in municipal solid waste (MSW). Estimated global waste output is set to grow from 2.01 billion tonnes during 2016 to 3.40 billion tonnes by the year 2050, with an increase of nearly 70%, according to the World Bank. Of this, over 33% of waste is open dumped or uncontrolled landfilled, and this has a critical effect on air quality, soil fertility, and health. Landfills have grown now and are responsible for nearly 8–10% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, and the situation is further worsened by the lack of segregation at the source. In addition to overloading city systems, it also exposes sanitation workers and stray animals to harmful substances. To counteract this growing issue, this paper proposes an Automatic Waste Segregation System to categorize domestic or industrial waste into metal, wet, and dry categories. The system is based on an Arduino Uno microcontroller, along with an IR sensor for dry waste, an inductive sensor for metals, and a moisture sensor for the detection of wet waste. A servo motorcontrolled gate and rotor disc mechanism directs waste into respective bins based on sensor input. It is housed in a wooden box with PVC channels for ease of movement and protection.