An Arduino-Based Plastic Bottle Vending Machine to Support Environmental Awareness for Barangay Muzon, Taytay Rizal — making recycling simple, interactive, and rewarding.
Presented to the Faculty of the College of Computer Studies, Our Lady of Fatima University, Antipolo City — this capstone project proposes a Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) that accepts used plastic bottles from community residents and rewards them with free products such as drinks or biscuits.
Barangay Muzon, Taytay, Rizal is a growing community where plastic bottles are frequently improperly disposed of, contributing to pollution and clogged drainage. This machine aims to change that — making recycling easy, rewarding, and habit-forming.
Full Project Overview →College of Computer Studies, Antipolo City — BSIT Program, 2026
Target community where the machine will be deployed and evaluated
IR & ultrasonic sensors, servo motor, LCD display — all controlled by Arduino
Each accepted bottle earns the resident a free drink or biscuit as incentive
The machine uses sensor-based detection and an ESP32 microcontroller to validate, count, and credit points to residents for every plastic bottle deposited.
Resident places a used plastic bottle into the machine's input slot.
An inductive sensor checks for metal first — anything metal is rejected immediately, before any other check.
HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor detects the bottle and a capacitive sensor confirms it's actually plastic.
The ESP32 processes sensor data and decides: accept or reject. LCD displays the result to the user.
Accepted bottles earn the resident points on their account — redeemable later for water, biscuits, and other rewards.
Earn free products by recycling plastic bottles, building responsible waste management habits.
Gain an efficient system for collecting and managing plastic waste at the community level.
A replicable model other communities can adopt for similar recycling initiatives.
Opportunity to contribute to sustainability while engaging meaningfully with the community.
Strengthens academic programs through practical, technology-driven community-based innovation.
A reference for future studies integrating technology into community-based recycling programs.
The web dashboard logs each machine transaction — bottles accepted, rewards given, and bin fill level — updated automatically whenever the Arduino sends data via serial communication to XAMPP.
Open Dashboard →Every plastic bottle collected brings Barangay Muzon one step closer to a cleaner, more sustainable community. Learn more about the project or get in touch.