Inadequate waste bins makes waste collection difficult.

More so when it has to do with different kinds of waste.

A lot of money and time are spent on separating waste for recycling.

Fortunately, students of Obuasi Senior High Technical School are addressing the challenge by developing an automatic waste separator.

Most of the concern for waste management in Ghana are at the urban areas where a variety of waste are produced.

The predominant wastes being domestic solid waste, industrial waste and construction waste.

The bin is a solar-powered automated machine which sorts out the waste materials. It has a compartment each for the waste that is sorted.

These are wood and paper, metal, plastic and wet materials. It sends an SMS alert to the owner when it is full. The bin has four sensors for each of the materials.

It also has light indicators representing the different materials that turn on when the waste material is shown to the sensor.

“When you show a plastic waste to the sensor, a light indicating that the waste is plastic turns on and the bin automatically opens for the individual to drop the plastic.

“The bin automatically sorts the plastic waste into the respective compartment. Metal, paper and wet waste materials also follow the same process,” they said.

Head of the Obuasi Sec-Tech Robotics club, Mr. Solomon Nchor was grateful to the collaborators for making the project possible.

"We're grateful to Prof. Robert Tamakloe of KNUST, who supervised this project, Dr. Adams Misbau of KsTU, Dr. Margaret Ansah of University of Ghana and Madam Catherine of UNDP Ghana,” he said.

The project was funded by the Coca-Cola foundation after they emerged first runner up of a competition aimed at waste management in the country.