STUTONNE

Wastebin for space-saving disposal of recyclable coffee-to-go cups

Every day tons of paper cups are thrown into the trash. That leads to overfilled bins all over Munich and at the University of Applied Sciences Munich. Therefore we worked together with the Munich Student Union and tried to solve the problem how to reduce the volume of the waste on the one hand and how to imply sustainable consumption of the disposable cups on the other. Since the paper cups and even the lids of the Munich Student Union are biocompatible, it is important to enable proper disposal in order to be able to recycle both instead of burning them.

The concept of the "StuTonne“ is developed with this guiding principle. The "StuTonne“ is a waste collection container that is especially suitable for the biocompatible coffee and espresso paper cups and bioplastic lids from the Munich Student Union. The structure of the StuTonne enables proper disposal or recycling in industrial composting plants with a simultaneous volume reduction compared to conventional base containers through an internal pipe system.

During the development technical framework conditions such as fire protection requirements, the capacity of the container, hygiene standards, disposal logistics and reasonable costs of a pilot project were taken into account.

The design and implementation of the StuTonne is adapted to the needs and wishes of the students which were discovered through an empirical target group analysis. In addition, the development of a creative marketing, design and sustainability concept is intended to raise students’ awareness of the problem and promote sustainable and optimal consumption.

*Our team took part in the cross-faculty, transdisciplinary project seminar ZukunftGestalten@HM on the subject of "Ressourcen:REuse.REduce.REcycle.REbuild.REdesign.REthink" and the subsequent public project presentation fair with great success. In addition we applied for the StraschegAward in category 1: "Best business idea from a course“ with the "StuTonne“. Here, along with four other teams, we were nominated for the award and prize money of € 5,ooo and were therefore allowed to pitch our idea in front of a broad public audience at the award ceremony.

Time period: 04.2o18 - 06.2o18

In collaboration with: Marie Urbin, Sebastian Walz, Robert Zettel

My tasks: concept development, design of the waste bin, the coffee cups and advertising materials, creation of the StraschegAward application, pitch presentation at the award ceremony