WasteMatcher – Intelligent Waste Disposal & Recycling Guide

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Inspiration

In most neighborhoods and cities, people struggle to properly separate and dispose of their daily waste. Items like batteries, electronics, and food containers often get mixed, leading to environmental harm. We wanted to build a simple, AI-powered assistant that can guide users on how to identify, dispose, and recycle waste responsibly, while also providing insights to communities.

What it does

WasteMatcher helps users:

Upload a picture of a waste item (plastic, food, e-waste, etc.)

Uses YOLOv8 + LLM to classify the item and generate a disposal guide

Provides a voice summary (via ElevenLabs) for accessibility

Shows nearby recycling centers using Google Maps or local SQLite data

Maintains a personal waste dashboard and a community insights dashboard

How we built it

We used the Bolt.new SDK to build the frontend with integrations like:

YOLOv8 for image classification

Hugging Face LLM to generate eco-friendly disposal and recycling tips

ElevenLabs to convert the LLM output into spoken summaries

SQLite to store user data, item history, and recycling center info

Chart.js for user and community dashboards

Google Maps API for location-based recycling suggestions

All of this is powered by workflows and external API calls inside Bolt.new.

Challenges we ran into

Combining image classification with contextual LLM prompts smoothly

Ensuring voice summaries were accurate and not too lengthy

Handling multiple file types and camera permissions in Bolt.new

Managing geolocation and mapping without complex backend logic

Structuring a lightweight SQLite schema to serve both users and dashboards

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Fully integrated AI + voice + maps into a clean low-code frontend

Built a real, socially impactful solution in just a few days

Created a design that's scalable for cities and schools alike

Made sustainability and accessibility part of the same product

What we learned

How to integrate YOLOv8 and LLMs in real-world use cases

Leveraging SQLite for quick, embedded storage in hackathon projects

Designing user flows where AI simplifies decision-making

Importance of inclusive features like voice summaries in civic tools

What’s next for WasteMatcher – Intelligent Waste Disposal & Recycling Guide

Mobile PWA version for on-the-go waste recognition

Community leaderboard and gamification for recycling impact

Add support for regional languages via multilingual ElevenLabs voices

Partner with local municipalities and schools to promote sustainability

Add a chatbot that answers live questions about waste items using RAG

Built With

• bolt.new