Florence Gulule and Imran Kachingwe emerged winners in the Zero Waste Hackathon organized by Mzuzu Entrepreneur Hub in collaboration with Mzuzu City Council to work towards creating sustainable technology solutions for waste management challenges affecting Mzuzu City.
The Duo pocketed K1 Million as prize money after inventing and demonstrating an automated Waste Sorting Bin that separates plastics from biodegradable waste.
Speaking after being announced as winner, Gulule said the purpose of this bin is to also help in the recycling process of the waste and ensure that people are able to use these bins for managing waste especially in busy places like markets.
“We are trying to create a solution that can be utilized by everyone in the city. These bins will be placed in strategic areas in the markets where everyone can have access.
This waste will not just be disposed of but will be used for recycling purposes into other products that are equally important for the people of Mzuzu City,” she said.
Speaking during the function that took place at Mzuzu E Hub in Kwawala House on Saturday, Chairman for the Health and Sanitation Committee at Mzuzu City Council Alwin Kumwenda commended the winners and all participants for coming up with these innovative ideas at a time where waste management challenges are on the increase due to lack of proper waste disposal facilities.
“Most of the people plying their trades in the market only use bins placed by the City Council and when these bins are full and not collected in time, they just dispose of waste anyhow.
The creation of automated waste bins or smart bins to alert the council when the bins are full could be great milestones for the City. We believe this ideas will be put into practice,” explained Kumwenda
Runner Up to the hackathon were Jessy Baloyi and Kelvin Chithothe who created a smart bin that segregates biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste while 3rd position went to Felix Kumafutsa, a student at Mzuzu university who created a smart waste monitor to update real time waste data and gas emissions.
Mzuzu Entrepreneur Hub organized the Zero Waste Management Hackathon in collaboration with Mzuzu City Council where 20 young people participated in creation technological solutions towards waste management from Zomba, Nkhotakota, Lilongwe, Blantyre, Rumphi and Mzuzu City.
