The locally built reverse vending machine rewards students with digital incentives for returning used plastic bottles.

RAJSHAHI — Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET) and Khulna University are working together on a Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) project — a joint research initiative to develop a locally built system for collecting used plastic bottles on university campuses.

Called “ProCritic-RVM,” the machine collects used plastic bottles in exchange for digital incentives, offering a practical model for campus-level solid-waste management.

The project team frames university students as the generation most responsible for driving behaviour change in solid-waste management. The concept is being piloted across multiple campuses in Rajshahi and Khulna before a wider rollout.

The research is documented in the paper “Advancing Sustainability: Introducing Reverse Vending Machines to University Campuses” by the RUET and Khulna University research team.

Moving the RVM plastic-collection system from prototype to permanent campus infrastructure is one of RUET’s long-term SDG 12 goals. The project also advances SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

SDG Alignment: SDG 12 (primary); SDG 9; SDG 17.