GR1009483B - Method and aplication system for identifiable recycling of materials - Google Patents

Abstract

Novelty: recycling packets for the identification of the user utilizing identifiable dumping trash bags. Constitution: the recycling packet 6 comprises the server 1 comprising the database 2 having one page per user, the dumping trash bags 7 which can be of different colour depending on the material to be dumped and the labels filed with identification data 9 entered by the user to the database 2 so that after dumping, the whole recycling performance of each user can be registered. The labels 8 can be either part of the dumping trash bag or separated items.

Description

DESCRIPTION

"METHOD FOR THE RECYCLING OF MATERIALS

AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION SYSTEM"

THE FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The invention refers to the technical field of methods for sorting and classifying materials, according to their specific characteristics, using their optical and electromagnetic properties. It also refers to a data processing method and system.

THE HISTORY OF THE INVENTION

The method disclosed in the present invention, as well as the system for recycling materials, have not been disclosed in the prior art. Although large urban centers cover only 2% of the planet's surface, it is estimated that almost more than 50% of the world's population lives in them today, while there are estimates that this percentage is expected to increase up to 75% by 2050. The above forecast, combined with the over-consumer lifestyle and the increase in the use of packaging in more and more products has led to a rapid increase in the production of total municipal waste. Specifically, it is estimated that each household in the European Union produces 23 kg of waste on average per week, while in Greece the total production of municipal waste has increased significantly in recent years, from 412 kg per person per year in 2000, to 512 kg in 2015. Even more important is the fact that almost 40% of the total amount of urban solid waste is packaging waste, i.e. materials that can be recovered and further utilized. And yet, even if the majority of packaging materials are reusable, a large amount of them end up in landfills and landfills. Essentially, Greece continues to send thousands of tons of recyclable material to landfills, paying for the burden on the environment and non-compliance with correct European practices and directives, millions of Euros in fines and fees, which ultimately burden the already overburdened Greek household.

A corresponding prior art invention known to date is WO20 16/024043, which presents "a method, apparatus and system for waste sorting". According to the method disclosed in the invention, identifiers are used on each bag to separate the bags solely according to the type of waste they carry. Further sensors are used adjunctively to identify the size of the bag, its weight and its position on the conveyor belt of the sorting center. Depending on the respective elements, sorting devices separate the waste, directing it accordingly. Similarly, solutions proposed to date include the separation of waste at the source, usually inside the house, depending on their type and disposing of them in suitable bins.

As it becomes obvious, the implemented solutions are distinguished by the number of their disadvantages, which are often a brake on their implementation on a large scale and the active participation of the majority of the population in them. The need to separate waste according to its type complicates the recycling process in the household, as it requires a number of bags for the separate collection of different materials. Additionally, it does not ensure that users have actually separated properly before disposing of the bags in bins. To date, most systems as well as applied methods, such as that of WO20 16/024043, focus on exploiting the technical possibilities to improve waste separation in sorting centers.

It is thus an object of the present invention to advantageously address the aforementioned disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art by proposing a method and system for recycling materials.

A further object of the present invention is to offer a method for the collection of waste to be recycled, their easy identification, depending on the contents of the bag, the sorting of the materials to be utilized in recycling centers with high productivity intensity, thus reducing their operating costs and at the same time increasing the quality of materials to be recycled.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a system for material recycling that includes registering all participating parties in a database, assigning unique numbers to each of them, tracking their waste and identifying them in the recycling process cycle.

An additional feature and advantage of the invention is the double association, both of the user with the bags he has purchased, and of the waste he deposited in the recycling bin and ended up in the corresponding sorting center. In this way, full supervision of the recycling process from start to finish is ensured.

A further object of the invention is to present a method for the recycling of materials for which bags are used, with a system for their identification, by the competent bodies.

An advantage of the invention is the fact that it allows the separation at the source of the products to be recycled, with a sorting system, the identification, the recording of the performance and finally the return of the products to be recycled to the respective user.

Another advantage of the invention is that it provides a system that facilitates the recovery of materials, increasing efficiency and reducing operating costs, of recyclable materials in recycling centers and mechanical processing facilities.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be understood by those skilled in the art, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is illustrated in an indicative, non-restrictive manner.

Figure 1 shows an illustrative illustration of the system of the present invention, according to an exemplary implementation thereof.

Figure 2 shows in a flow diagram an application of the method, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 shows an illustrative variation in the implementation of the invention, using radio frequency identification technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED APPLICATION

Referring now to illustrative examples of application, we will present the method, as well as the material recycling system, so that both its advantages and its application method become apparent.

The main objective of the system, Fig. 1, is to ensure the correct identification of recycled materials, through identification of the corresponding medium in which they are found. The implementation of the system requires a physical server (1), with one or more storage units, such as hard disks, where a database is stored (2). Users (3) are registered in the database (2) by creating unique registration pages (4), through a computer program (5). Each user (3) may before or after registering his data in the database (2) obtain a recycling package (6). Each recycling package (6) contains at least one bag (7) and at least one label (8), without being limited to the existence of more bags (7) and labels (8) per recycling package (6), but never is the number of bags (7) greater than the number of labels (8).

Each tag (8) has a unique identifier (9), which can be a printed alphanumeric code, a bar code, one or more dimensions, or any other known element that can be used to uniquely identify and identify an object . The identification element (9) of each tag (8) is entered by the user (3) through the computer program (5) in the database (2), where it is assigned to the entry page (4) thereof. The user (3) is thus connected to the specific tag (8) and thus also to the specific bag (7).

In each bag (7) the waste to be recycled is collected in the usual way, without requiring any separation of materials, and they are discarded in the corresponding bins (10) outside the houses. They are collected similarly in the ways known to date, such as for example from garbage trucks (11), without showing at this stage any difference in the management of the bags (7) of our invention compared to conventional bags. They are transported to the appropriate recycling facilities (12), such as the sorting centers for recyclable materials, where the materials are sorted and separated.

The identification of the bag (7) is done directly by identifying the label (8) and the identification element (9) that it carries and scanning it through a scanning device (13), Fig. 3, which can be operated by an employee , to be part of a structure within the recycling facility (12) or part of the waste vehicle itself (11). Such a structure may for example include a conveyor belt on which the bags are placed and which has a scanning device (13) installed at some point thereof, so that the passing bags (7) with the appropriate label (8) are automatically recognized. In this way, it is identified that the bag (7) of the respective user (3) has arrived at the recycling facility (12).

In an alternative implementation of the invention, each bag (7) can be colored in a specific way, so that it visually stands out from the most commonly used bags, thus facilitating the manual sorting and possibly the separation of the bags (7) bearing the label (8) from the rest of the bags to make the task of scanning the tags (8) easier.

In a further alternative implementation of the invention, each bag (7) or each label (8) may be entirely or in part of different colors, depending on their corresponding content to be recycled. Thus, by way of example and not exclusively, a bag (7) or a label (8) can be blue in color if it concerns plastic materials, green in color if it concerns glass materials, red in color if it concerns aluminum and yellow in color if it concerns paper materials. In this way, the manual sorting worker in the recycling facility (12) can initially separate the materials, recognizing the color of the bag (7) or the label (8) and feed the bag (7) to the corresponding material flow. Therefore, it is sought to do increased sorting of waste at the source, with the aim of achieving a zero-entropy stream in the management of packaging waste and thus increasing the chances of recovering recyclable materials, up to 100%.

In an additional indicative variation of the invention, the recycling bin (10) may similarly have an identification element (9), such as an alphanumeric code, which the user can enter when discarding the bag (7) with the materials to be recycled , so that the rejection is recorded and specific identification is possible in the system on the corresponding registration page (4) of the user (3).

In yet a further alternative application of the invention, the label (8) with the unique identification element (9) may be integrated in the bag (7), forming part of it, being made of the same or different material in relation to the bag (7). In this case it becomes obvious that each recycling package (6) includes at least one bag (7) with an integrated label (8). The label (8) may, for example, be printed on the bag (7) by any of the already known methods.

In another alternative implementation, the identification element (9) may use radio frequency identification technology, better known as RFID technology, or near field communication, better known as NFC. When the tags (8) with the corresponding identification element (9) are in range of the antenna (14), Fig. 3, of the reader (15), the control unit of the reader (15) communicates with the antenna of the tags (8) by radio waves. The tags (8) are activated in turn and return the searched data to the reader (15). Then, with the appropriate software, the information is analyzed and the identification of the bag (7) is obtained, which is attributed to the corresponding registration page (4) of the user (3). It will be apparent that alternatively the identifiers (9) may likewise consist of active circuits, with some supply, usually via a battery, that continuously transmit data.

Fig. 2 shows in exemplary form an implementation of the proposed method, within the context of the invention. Initially the user (3) supplies one or more recycling packages, where each package (6) carries a bag (7) and a label (8) with an identification element (9). He enters an electronic platform located in a database (2), where he registers his details for the first time and creates a corresponding electronic account. His account corresponds to one entry page (4) in the database (2). The user (3) records in the corresponding field the details of the identification element, in order to prevent the identification of the label (8) and thus the bag (7) as belonging to the user (3). The user applies the label (8) to the bag (7) and disposes of the bag (7) in the predetermined bins (10). The bag (7) is collected and ends up at the recycling facilities (12) where it is electronically identified by the identification element (9) of the label (8). The identifier (9) is identified and assigned to the appropriate user (3). Both the user (3), and any system administrator, who is connected to the database (2) and has the corresponding rights, can see information regarding the type, quantity of rejected materials, degree of participation and registration of the performance of each user (3) and any other information that may arise processed cumulatively or after a partial analysis of the aforementioned data.

At this point it should be noted that the description of the invention was made with reference to indicative application examples, to which it is not limited. Therefore, any change or modification regarding the materials used, the presented steps of the preparation method, as long as they do not constitute a new inventive step and do not contribute to the technical development of what is already known, are considered included in the aims and objectives of the present invention, as summarized in the following claims.

Claims (3)

1. Method application system for material recycling, consisting of at least one physical server (1) in which there is at least one database (2), in which registration pages (4) are created, each corresponding to a user (3), which has a bag (7) with a label (8) bearing an identifier (9), which the user (3) registers in the database (2), characterized in that the label (8) is recognized at the point of disposal or in a recycling facility (12) by a scanning device (13), from which it is transmitted to the database (2), where its identifier (9) is compared and identified electronically in the database (2). 2. Method application system for material recycling, according to claim 1, characterized in that the identification element (9) of the label (8) can be a printed alphanumeric code, a bar code, one or more dimensions, or element with radio frequency identification technology. 3. Method for recycling materials, consisting of the following steps: user (3) procures a recycling package (6), with a bag (7) bearing a label (8) with an identification element (9) enters (17) an electronic platform with a database (2), registers his details and his details identification element (9), discards the bag (7) with the label (8) in bins (10), characterized in that during the sorting of the bag (7) in a recycling facility (12) the label is recognized electronically by a scanning device ( 13), its identifier (9) is transmitted by the scanning device (13), compared and identified in the database (2).