Specifications

We determined the design specifications, constraints, and parameters through a market survey and prior solution attempts. The surveys offered the view of a common consumer, letting us know how many people would be willing to spend money on our system. The prior solution attempts provided information about materials and methods that did not work and we formed out constraints around them.

Primary Stakeholders

Users: restaurant employees, common consumers

Buyers: restaurant owners, local government, businesses

Sellers: big box stores, restaurant supply stores

Manufacturers: a factory

Market Research Results

Our survey gaged the consumer's willingness to recycle and how helpful an automated system would be to them. We found that many people did not want to put in the extra work to sort and clean their materials. Many people also were not confident in their knowledge and felt like they can't recycle competently. Adding a user interface that informs the user about each item will allow them to better understand how to recycle certain products and cut down the time it would take.

There was also a concern about cost, some people put their main struggle with recycling as the cost. Having separate receptacles, buying new bags, and maintaining everything adds up over time. Recycling should be realistic for people at any economic level. The majority of responses were willing to pay between $100 and $300 for an automated system.