MIRI: The Smart World Sustainability (SWS) project team of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) comprising 15 students and alumni recently won the Gold Award at the Malaysia Technology Expo 2022 – Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) International Innovation Awards and Expo, which was held virtually.
Their winning submission was the ‘MyCleanCity’ integrated smart bin IOT (Internet-of-Things) system and mobile app, which the team had been developing since September 2020 under the supervision of lecturers Dr Lau Shiew Wei and Associate Professor Stephanie Chan, with funding from Curtin Malaysia’s Faculty of Engineering and Science.
“Our innovation provides a unique digital, interactive solution to the management of recyclable waste in Miri, including the collecting and transporting of recyclable waste for recycling. It also helps to promote Miri as a smart city as envisioned by the Sarawak government and Miri City Council,” said the SWS team project manager Paul Tinotenda Nyamtowo.
Assoc Prof Chan said the innovation was also part of Curtin Malaysia’s Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP) to enhance mutual collaboration and knowledge transfer between the university and sectors of the community such as government agencies, non-governmental organisations and businesses.
The technological components of the smart waste management system comprise a novel mobile app and ‘smart bins’. The ‘MyCleanCity’ mobile app connects those generating solid waste with solid waste recyclers through various online interfaces.
This allows the solid waste generators to manage the collection and storage of their solid waste in smart bins which are designed to detect the levels of waste collected, as well as weigh them for data capturing and analysis purposes.
Meanwhile, an inter-linked interface for recyclers enables them to receive and accept waste collection requests from the generators, and arrange for prompt collection.
Thus, the system is able to manage the entire waste collection and recycling process, allowing users to navigate and monitor the transactions using Google Maps API.
The system also has the capability to generate various reports, such as on reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, land use and other environmental impacts through the use of a more efficient waste management system.
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