Waste2Worth

Inspiration

Our project started in the school cafeteria at ISB. As members of the Green Panther club, we spent weeks recording the food waste generated by the student body. The data showed that 400 kg of food is thrown away at our school every single day. Seeing nearly half a ton of waste firsthand made us realize that if one school is losing this much, the waste across all households in Bangkok must be massive. We realized that most of this waste isn't intentional; people simply forget what is in their fridge. We built Waste2Worth to provide a tool that tracks inventory before it hits the bin.

What it does

This app allows the user to track the expiration date by making the user take a picture of the expiration date then the app will remind the user when it almost reaches the expiration date. The app will also delve into teachings about different between expiry date and best before.

The app improves food expiry tracking by adjusting dates based on temperature, storage type, whether food is opened, and its category, giving more accurate risk warnings (e.g., food may expire sooner under certain conditions). Users can edit details and track leftovers by taking photos, identifying food type, and estimating safe consumption while detecting spoilage signs. It also includes an education feature explaining labels like “best before” and “use by,” plus smart analytics on food waste, including waste percentage, most wasted items, and money lost. Additionally, it suggests meal plans for at-risk food, with premium features like leftover recipes, grocery prediction, and a freshness scanner for shopping.

How we built it

I built this app using React Native for the frontend, enabling features like user authentication, a camera interface, a food inventory dashboard, expiry countdowns, push notifications, and an educational section on expiry labels. The backend uses Supabase for real-time data and authentication, along with a notification system that alerts users 3 days before expiry, 1 day before, and on the expiry date. The AI engine is powered by a Python-based model with YOLO object detection to scan images and extract food data. Users can log in, scan or manually enter items, and the app automatically updates the dashboard, tracks freshness, sends reminders, and suggests recipes for near-expiry ingredients.

Challenges we ran into

The main hurdles we faced were data collection and integrating the back end. Manually tracking 400 kg of waste at school showed us how difficult it is to keep data accurate and organized. Translating that into a functional app was a significant technical struggle. Getting the database to sync properly with the user interface in real-time required complex server-side logic to handle expiration dates and automated notifications. Ensuring that these API calls didn't lag or crash the app took up the majority of our development time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of taking the data we collected in the Green Panther club and turning it into a functional digital tool. Recording 400 kg of daily food waste at our school was just the start; moving that experience into a codebase was a major milestone for our team. We successfully built a system that tracks inventory and sets expiration alerts, bridging the gap between seeing a problem and actually solving it. Another major achievement was our technical resilience. Despite the difficulty of integrating the back end, we managed to build a working prototype that syncs data in real-time.

What we learned

We learned that food waste is primarily an inventory management problem. Through our work with Green Panther, we saw that people change their habits when they are confronted with the actual scale of what they are throwing away. We realized the app needed to focus on two things: keeping tracking simple and making the data clear. If we can show a user exactly what they are wasting in real-time, they are far more likely to shop smarter and manage their kitchen more effectively.

What's next for Waste2Worth

Our immediate focus is on marketing and community outreach. We want to take the data we gathered in the Green Panther club and use it to launch a social media campaign that highlights the reality of that 400 kg of daily waste. By showing people the scale of the problem through clear visuals and student stories, we aim to build a user base that is genuinely invested in the mission. Our goal is to move beyond our school and get Waste2Worth into households across Bangkok by partnering with local environmental groups.