KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

MID-TERM PROJECT REPORT

WASTE SEGREGATION SYSTEM

Submitted By:
Prabhiv Adhikary (21004)
Agraj Khadka (21014)
Aaditya Mishra (21019)
Kabir Rajbanshi (21023)
Aavash Shrestha (21025)
Jayant Bhat (21031)

Submitted To:
Dr. Kamal Chapagain
Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

December 2022
 ABSTRACT
Automatic Waste Segregation is a system that separates metallic and nonmetallic wastes.
The system contains two subsystems: electronics and mechanical. The system includes a
conveyor belt run by a motor and a metal detection system as its main components. The
main function of the system is it categorizes the mixed waste into different compartments.
The process of a waste segregator is an easy-to-use solution for a segregation system in
households and small scale so that the wastes can be sent for further processing.

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 SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

V : Volts

A : Ampere

mV : Milivolts

mA : Milliampere

MOSFET : Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor

Ω : Ohm

kΩ : Kiloohm

IC : Integrated Circuit

nF : Nanofarad

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 LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
List of Figures
Figure 1: Block Diagram ..................................................................................................... 3
Figure 2: DC Motor Speed Controller ................................................................................. 4
Figure 3: Flyback Diode & Discharge Path ......................................................................... 5
Figure 4: Charging and Discharging Path of Capacitor ....................................................... 6
Figure 5: Metal Detector Circuit .......................................................................................... 7

List of Table
Table 1: Gannt Chart .......................................................................................................... 12

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... i

SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS ..............................................................................ii

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES............................................................................... iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. iv

1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1

1.1. Background ...................................................................................................................... 1

2. OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................. 2

3. PROJECT METHODOLOGY ................................................................................. 3

3.1. Block Diagram ................................................................................................................. 3

3.2. System Analysis ............................................................................................................... 4
3.2.1. DC Motor Speed Controller ..................................................................................... 4
3.2.2. Metal Detector .......................................................................................................... 7
3.3. System Overview and Breakdown ................................................................................... 8
4. LITERATURE SURVEY .......................................................................................... 9

5. PROJECT ACTIVITY............................................................................................. 10

5.1. Work Accomplishments ................................................................................................. 10

5.2. Key Issues....................................................................................................................... 10
5.3. Next Steps....................................................................................................................... 11
5.4. Gantt Chart ..................................................................................................................... 12
6. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 13

REFERENCES................................................................................................................. 14

APPENDIX ....................................................................................................................... 15

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1. INTRODUCTION
The rapid growth of urbanization has led to rapid population which has increased the rate
of production of waste. According to the data published by Asian Development Bank in
2013, it was projected that waste generation in urban areas of Nepal is about 3023 tons per
day in the average per capita waste generation is 0.223 kg/person/day. [1] It is mentioned
that about 25% is recyclables such as plastics, papers, and metals. Waste is considered
waste when any object is in the wrong place. The waste for one can be raw materials for
others. Most of the municipalities in Nepal is facing problem in waste management. Solid
waste management in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal, especially concerning the siting of
landfills, has been a challenge for over a decade. The current practice of the illegal dumping
of solid waste on the river banks has created serious environmental and public health
problems. Recently also, there was a lot of controversy about dumping wastes from
Kathmandu Valley and Kavre Valley in Nuwakot. The larger the size of the municipal
population the higher the per capita household waste generation, degree of urbanization,
and per capita waste production. The primary solution for this problem is to separate waste
according to its nature from the source. But it is not too often to do it from the source.
Segregating the waste according to their properties to a small extent will help to achieve
the concept of segregating waste from the source.

1.1.Background
The project aims to model the waste segregation system which would be segregating
metallic and non-metallic wastes. Since, each type of waste has distinct properties, using
their distinctive properties, the system can be developed and the waste can be segregated
according to it. The system consists of two major subsystems; Electronics Sub-System and
Mechanical Subsystem. The electronics Sub-System will include different sensors,
electronics components, and logic circuits to control the mechanical mechanism of the
mechanical sub-system. Similarly, the mechanical sub-system includes motors of different
specifications, electromagnets, and so on. [2]

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2. OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of our project include:
• To separate waste according to their distinctive properties.
• Collect the separated waste into respective containers.

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3. PROJECT METHODOLOGY
As mentioned, the system consists of two major subsystems, they are the electronics sub-
system and the mechanical sub-system. The electronics sub-system looks after all the
sensors, and components and works as a control unit for mechanical subsystems which
includes several types of motors used.

3.1.Block Diagram
The figure below explains the system in a block diagram approach.

Push Button for on/off purposes

Conveyor Starts

Objects starts to move for sensing

Metal Detector

If metal

Electromagnet Activation If non metal

Fall into metal container Fall into non-metal container

Stops

Figure 1: Block Diagram

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3.2.System Analysis
3.2.1. DC Motor Speed Controller
A DC motor will be used to control the speed of the conveyor belt. For the speed control
DC motor, a 555 timer IC is used. It has a Supply voltage of 4.5-16V and an Output current
of ~ 200mA and can handle a maximum load of around 200mA. 12V supply is used to

Figure 2: DC Motor Speed Controller

control the dc motor and at 12V it draws a current of around 1.4A with no load applied.
This current is more than what the 555 timer can handle. So, a MOSFET is used which is
a kind of electric switch.

The motor is connected to the MOSFET drain pin and the source pin to the ground.
MOSFET will normally block the flow of current, so the motor does not rotate. However,
if a small volt is applied to the gate pin it will allow some current to flow. The higher the
voltage applied, the more current is allowed to flow. So, the motor rotates faster.

The 555 timer will provide the voltage to the MOSFET gate pin from pin 3 of the 555 timer.
To vary and control the speed of the motor, the 555 timer will send this (voltage) as pulses.
Each pulse lasts a period of time. During this period there will be a segment where the
signal is on, so voltage will be applied and a segment where the signal is off, so no voltage
will be applied. The MOSFET will therefore experience the average voltage of each time
period. The wider the on pulse, the higher the average voltage will be. This is pulse width
modulation.

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The current to the gate pin is tiny but a 1 kΩ resistor (R1) is placed between the MOSFET
gate pin and pin 3 of the 555 timer. This will protect the component by limiting the current
if the MOSFET was to malfunction and allow the current to flow out of the gate. A charge
of electrons will build up at the MOSFET gate pin. This needs to be discharged to turn it
off. So, another 1 kΩ resistor (R2) is placed which is connected to the ground which
provides a discharge path.

The electrical motor contains coils of wire, so it can be considered an inductor. When
inductors are powered, they store energy in their magnetic field. When the power is cut this
magnetic field collapses and the inductor pushes the electrons through the circuit. This
causes a very large and sudden surge in energy which can damage the circuit. So, a flyback
diode is added which provides a path to safely circulate and diminish the energy. For this
a 1N4007 diode is used which can handle large peak current.

Figure 3: Flyback Diode & Discharge Path

Pin 8 of 555 timer, the component’s power supply, is connected to the positive and Pin 1
to ground. Pins 2 and 6 are connected together so the voltage is the same. Pin 2 has control
over pin 6. If pin 2 is LOW, and pin 6 LOW, output goes and stays HIGH. If pin 6 HIGH,
and pin 2 goes LOW, output goes LOW while pin 2 LOW.

As the voltage on pins 2 and 6 increases and decreases, the output of the 555 timer changes.
So, to control the voltage and therefore the time interval a capacitor is connected to pins 2
and 6. When a capacitor is connected to a power supply, it instantly reaches the battery
voltage. But it is connected via a resistor; the resistor slows down the charging time. The
larger the resistor, the longer it takes to charge the voltage up. To charge the capacitor a
100kΩ potentiometer and a fixed 1kΩ resistor is to be used.

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To discharge the capacitor to restart the timer, two diodes will be added to create a separate
charge and discharge path. The current in this part of the circuit is very small since the
resistors are in the range of kΩ. Pin 7 is the discharge pin, which is connected to the timing
capacitor.

Figure 4: Charging and Discharging Path of Capacitor

Inside of the 555 timer the output of the flip flop connects to the gate pin of an internal
transistor. This controls the flow of current from the capacitor to the ground. When the flip
flop output is low, the transistor is off, so the capacitor (C2) charges and the voltage begin
to increase (D2 path). When the voltage increases enough so that the output of the flip flop
is high, the transistor is turned on which discharges the capacitor, so the voltage reduces
(D3 path). Pin 5 in the 555 timer is the control voltage. It is connected to the ground via a
capacitor which prevents accidental override and the capacitor will filter out any noise of
frequency.

Pin 4 is connected to the positive of the circuit. It can be used to override and reset the flip
flop by interrupting the power supply to the reset pin. It is not needed in the circuit. When
charging the current flows through the resistor (R4), the diode (D2) and the potentiometer
to the capacitor (C2), the flip flop output is low so the discharge transistor is off. Pin 3
outputs a high signal. Once the capacitor charges to 8V, the flip flop output becomes high
which turns on the transistor and the capacitor therefore discharges through the
potentiometer and diode (D3). Pin 3 outputs a low signal. The transistor remains open so
that the capacitor discharges until it reaches 4 V where the flip flop reverses again. This
turns the transistor off, which starts the timing again. This cycle repeats continuously.

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The capacitor discharges and charges creating a sawtooth wave and the 555 timer outputs
a square wave, which is pulse width modulation. A 10 nF capacitor is used because it gives
us a high frequency and the DC motor works best at a high frequency.

3.2.2. Metal Detector

The Metal Detector circuit also uses a 555 timer IC.

Figure 5: Metal Detector Circuit

In the NE555 Timer Metal Detector circuit, we use an inductor that senses the presence of
the Metal near to it. The closer a Metal Detector is to it, the more electric field lines are
produced and hence the speaker gives the sound more loudly indicating the distance
between the NE555 Timer Metal Detector and the metal's distance.

As in Proteus, it is not possible to show the Movement of a Metal, so the value of the
inductance represents the number of electric field lines around the NE555 Timer Metal
Detector circuit. More is the Inductance, more numbers of lines passing through the
inductor and hence it is assumed that metal is nearer to the circuit. The power of all the
components is the Direct current that is provided by the battery. This power enters the
NE555 Timer circuit that produces the uniform Timer-based Pulse at its output pin (Pin 3).
This Pulse enters the resistor that controls the flow of current through the main Metal
Detector circuit. The Resistor passes this current to the Inductor. The Inductance of the
inductor is the basic criteria of distance measurement. The DC current then passes through

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the speaker according to the strength of the electric field lines and a faint or hard sound is
heard. If the value of the inductor is increased a louder sound can be heard as it is an
indication of how close the metal is.

3.3.System Overview and Breakdown

• The heart of this system is the 555 timer.
• A MOSFET is used as an electronic switch in the circuit since the 555 timer cannot
handle a large current.
• Capacitors are used to reset the timer of the 555 IC.
• Resistors and potentiometers are used to delay the charging time of capacitors as
per our need.

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4. LITERATURE SURVEY
“Automated Waste Segregator” a work carried out by Mr. Chethan Siddeshwar K R, Mr.
Gunasagar C M, Mr. Hemanth S, Mr. K Pavan Kalyan Reddy reviews about the system of
segregating wastes classified as wet, dry or metallic. When waste is thrown in the pipe, the
IR sensor will sense the waste. Another sensor will sense the garbage category. As per the
algorithm used, if the waste is metallic then the mechanism will bring the metal collecting
bin below the pipe and with the help of a servo motor the waste will fall into the metal bin.
Similarly, the process will repeat if wet waste is sensed. If the sensor doesn’t activate the
sensor category, then the waste will be considered to be a dry waste. The AWS (Auto Waste
Segregator) employs a parallel resonant impedance sensing mechanism to identify metallic
items, and capacitive sensors to distinguish between wet and dry waste. The project was
carried out in the year 2020-21. [3]

“Automatic Waste Segregator” performed by Suchitra V, Shariq Mohammed Shaikh, and

Stuti Jha suggests the use of 8051 microcontrollers as the heart of the system to effectively
perform waste segregation. The inductive proximity sensor is used to detect if the waste is
a metal. A high-speed blower system is used to blow dry waste off the belt while most of
the wet waste remains. It then falls off as the belt rotates and is collected later. As and when
the inductive proximity sensors detect a metallic waste, a slider movement is initiated
which sweeps the waste away after it falls on the belt. Permanent magnets within the
metallic bin aid in sorting magnetic metals from non-magnetic ones. [4]

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5. PROJECT ACTIVITY
To work on this project so far, studies and research have been conducted about the potential
components to be used and the circuit design mechanism. The block diagram has been
reviewed and modified as per the suggestion of the supervisor and for more convenience
of the project. After the new block diagram was deduced, more research was conducted on
newer components to be used. Then, the design of the conveyor belt was started and
formulated, and tested on Proteus 8 Professional software. The design of the electromagnet
was started and is currently ongoing. Similarly, the metal detector circuit was implemented
in Proteus 8 Professional software.

5.1.Work Accomplishments
The work accomplished as mentioned below:
• The block diagram was revised after studying the feasibility and removing the
concept of dry and wet wastes limiting the system to separate metallic and non-
metalic wastes.
• Necessary components were studied reviewed and inquired about the availability of
components in the laboratory.
• Design of Conveyor Belt circuit in Proteus Software and breadboard testing was
done.
• The necessary steps for electromagnet were studied and implemented.
• Metal detector circuit was designed using inductors.
• The metal detector is an important part of the system which is simulated in proteus.

5.2.Key Issues
The key issues that were faced during project accomplishments are as follows:
• Since microcontrollers are not allowed to use adding different subsystems and
embedding them in a single system wasn’t possible. Because of this, the system was
limited to separating metallic and non-metallic types of wastes only on a small
scale.
• The DC Motor with the necessary specification wasn’t available in the laboratory
which halted the movement of wastes that are to be sent through the conveyor belt.
Motors with less power are insufficient to move waste that is deposited into the belt.

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 • When making electromagnets, the current wasn’t induced properly in the core,
resulting in not achieving the desired magnetic strength. The electromagnets will
attract the small-scale magnetic substances before sending them to the metal
detector.
• The problem was encountered with how to separate metals and non-metals. The
first thing that was done was implemented metal detector circuits which are working
in simulation.

5.3.Next Steps
The next steps in this project shall be:
• Test the metal detector circuit in the breadboard.
• For convenience, PNP proximity sensor would be used in place of metal detector
circuits.
• All subsystems will be embedded into a single system and will be tested on the
breadboard.
• After all tests are completed, the circuit will be implemented in PCB.
• After the successful completion of the working project, further studies will be done
to integrate dry and wet waste segregation on small scale.

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5.4.Gantt Chart
The Gantt Chart for the project is illustrated below:

Table 1: Gantt Chart

Month July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May
Literature Review

Proposal

Research

Simulation

Breadboard Test

Mechanical
Design
PCB Design

Final Test

Project
Demonstration

Completed
Planned

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6. CONCLUSION
The waste segregation system has a set goal of separating waste according to its properties.
The separated waste is then collected in separate containers. It minimizes manual human
effort and brings out the economic value of waste. It is one small step towards building an
efficient and economic waste management system. While implementing our system
different problems like controlling the speed of the conveyor belt (motor) and attaining the
desired strength of electromagnet but using some modifications it has been achieved.

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 REFERENCES

[1] S. P. L. M. K. Maharjan, "Municipal Solid Waste Management in Nepal: Opportunities

and Challenges," Journal of the Institute of Engineering, vol. 15, no. 3, p. 222–226,
2022.
[2] H. S. P. C. K. K. Jha, "Automatic Waste Segregation System," International Journal
of Research in Engineering and Science (IJRES), vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 13-16, 2021.
[3] G. C. M. H. S. K. P. K. R. Chethan Siddeshwar K R, "Automatic Waste Segregation
System," 2021.
[4] S. M. S. S. J. S. . SUCHITRA V, "AUTOMATIC WASTE SEGREGATOR".

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 APPENDIX

A. MOSFET (STP75NF75) Specification

Continuous drain current: 80A (25 C) and 70A (100 C)
Drain to source ON resistance: 0.011 Ohm
Drain to source breakdown voltage: 75 V

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