Recycla.me: Technologies for Domestic Recycling

Abstract

Mobile applications have achieved a great development in the last years. Some of the existing tools are useful for academics and industry. In this regard, we propose in this paper a new mobile application, called Recycla.me, to help of social awareness about proper recycling of everyday materials. This is a mobile application developed under the Android OS whose main objective is to help children between 7 and 11 years to learn about this topic. The application works on any type of product that we can find in a supermarket, and it is based on reading the bar code that usually has the product. In this way, by reading the bar code, the application will guide step-by-step in the proper mode of recycling of each component in order to make a good recycle of the materials. In addition, the application works when the product has not got a bar code. In this case, the user is guided through a simple questionnaire to identify all the materials the product has. Finally, the application shows the appropriate recycling bin where each item must go. The application uses some operational research techniques.