Improving Hong Kong Street Waste Disposal Experience May 2019 | Page 69

Introduction - Regular Bin
Bin design is an area where we see a lot
of opportunities as it relates to both the
waste throwers and collectors. In fact
from our interviews, we realized it is not
just about the physical design of the bin,
but it also involves the experience of
locating the bin for throwers and collecting
the waste for collectors.
Idea
We need to design a bin that addresses
the needs for the 2 groups of users. As
a secondary goal, we would also like
to explore ways to commercialize the
thousands of bins we have on the street.
Modular Design
Modular design is a design approach that
creates things out of independent parts
with standard interfaces, allowing designs
to be customizable, upgradable and
repairable in case of malfunction. This is
a big trend in past few years especially in
furniture design. Component 2 is the main body of the
bin. Unlike the existing design, there is a
lockable flap door where waste collectors
can simply open and pull out the container
instead of lifting up the whole bin. It can
reduce the chance of injury and at the
same time increase their work efficiency.
Inspired by this concept, we have
separated the garbage bin into 3 main
components. Component 3 is the top part of the bin.
The angle of it is thoughtfully designed to
prevent rain from getting in as collectors
told us during the interview, getting rid of
water inside the garbage bag is a tedious
process. Another highlight of the design
is the little track on top. It enables us to
slot in an additional component based
on different needs of the area. There are
numerous ideas on what to add on top for
example a tray for cigarette butts and ash
( Figure2 ) as well as an advertising panel
( Figure3 ) which we will explain in more
detail.
Component 1 is the base of the bin. It
can be drilled into the ground, providing
support to other components on top and
preventing the overall strcuture to collapse
during extreme weather conditions.
On one side of the base, there will be
tracks where other components can be
slotted into it. One use case we came up
with is the seating area for leisure.
( Figure1 )
Figure2: Cigarette Butt & Ash Component
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Design Change x Design Trust
Figure1: Seating Area Component
Figure3: Advertising Panel Component
Design Change x Design Tr u st
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