[Smart Environment] Bin!Go

Theme

Smart Environment Challenge by GetLinks

Project Detail

Inspiration

The ratio of rubbish bins to Hong Kong population is 1: 189 in 2017

The terrifically high number and density of public rubbish bins in Hong Kong has been a concerning environmental issue to the Hong Kong Government. In recent years, the Environment Bureau has made it clear about its plan to reduce the number of rubbish bins by 40% from 42,820 to 24,300.

What is Bin!Go

Bin!Go aims to provide the most effective allocation for the rubbish bins amid the reduction of the bins. This is done by analysing the current location of bins and their respective percentage of usage. Furthermore, we are motivated to find the optimal route for cars to collect rubbish from the public bins.

Problems we encountered

While the location (and coordinates) of the public refuse collection points are readily available on data.gov.hk, the data for the public rubbish bins are not publicly accessible. Statistics from the Food & Environmental Hygiene Department show such data are indeed collected. To encounter this problem, we simulated a set of data with the coordinates of bins and the percentage usage of the respective bins. Through our project, we hope to show how these data are of value and can be used to enhance our environment.

What's next for Bin!Go

To further echo with the theme of Smart Environment, we would like to implement our tool on the increasing number of recycling bins in Hong Kong. The Food & Environmental Hygiene Department and the Leisure & Cultural Services Department proposed the ratio of recycling bins to rubbish bins be increased from the current 1:14 to 1:6 before the launch of the scheme in 2019. The move will increase recycling points by 45% to 4,000, aiming to stop residents from avoiding the waste levy, boosting useful waste recovery. Similarly, our tool can be used to effectively allocate the recycling bins and the optimal route for collecting the waste.

We believe Bin!Go should never be limited to the use in Hong Kong, we intend to expand our project to other cities such as Taiwan, top and second tier cities in China, Malaysia, etc, where high number and density of rubbish bins is also a concerning environmental problem.