Students from the University of Westminster have won an electronic waste (E-waste) hackathon involving six universities across London. Working as a team with peers from a variety of courses and institutions, the students won the award for their sustainable recycling scheme for lost earbuds and headphones.
On 27 November, students from across the city gathered at Kings College London to participate in an E-waste hackathon sponsored by Virgin Media O2. The hackathon encouraged students to work together to generate solutions to the fast-growing problem of E-waste, with a cash prize of £400 for the winning proposal.
Students were randomly allocated teams in order to promote collaboration with peers from a range of disciplines to find innovative solutions to recycling E-waste. After developing their ideas as a team, groups presented their initiatives to an expert judging panel including representatives from Virgin Media O2, E-Waste B-Corps, academics and the environmental charity Hubbub.
Three Westminster students from a variety of courses and year groups were part of the winning team. Making up the team was Artificial Intelligence, Data and Communications MA student Zachary Omitowoju, Computer Science BSc Honours student Lidia Soltys and Software Engineering BEng Honours student Muhammad Usman Saeed. Their team devised an initiative called Pod Rescuers, a recycling scheme for lost earbuds and headphones in train stations and other public areas where these items are often misplaced. Their idea proposed to collect, sanitise and resell lost earbuds at lower prices which would result in fewer new earbuds needing to be purchased and ensure that lost products do not go to waste.
Final-year Business Management BA Honours student Faria Mahmud also placed third with her team, Xccelerate. Their solution proposed an interactive platform which measures individuals’ initiative for responsibly recycling their old devices. They also devised a campaign through the platform titled Trash to Tech that could be used by universities to measure students' E-waste recycling contributions and gamify E-waste reduction efforts to increase awareness amongst young people.
About the hackathon student Zachary Omitowoju said: “The Hackathon at King’s College was such an incredible learning experience for me. It enhanced my knowledge of E-waste and how we can better improve this in the future. Getting to win my first hackathon and working with collaborative, intelligent teammates in such an eco-digital space was simply fantastic.”
Dularee Goonetilleke, Sustainability Coordinator at the University of Westminster, said: “It was fantastic to see University of Westminster students engaged in the London cross-university E-waste hackathon. The event was a great way for our students to network with other students and professionals from around London. Through discussion and ideation, they were able to find innovative solutions to the ever-growing problem of E-waste. A huge congratulations to the winning team!”
The E-waste hackathon contributed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 12: Responsible Consumption and Production and 17: Partnerships for the Goals. Since 2019, the University of Westminster has used the SDGs holistically to frame strategic decisions to help students and colleagues fulfil their potential and contribute to a more sustainable, equitable and healthier society.
Find out more about Sustainable Development at the University of Westminster.
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