AN innovative interactive recycling bin is under design at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies.

“The bin seeks to encourage recycling by making it less of a chore and more a form of entertainment,” the institute said in a statement. Masdar has announced a collaboration with local firm WMS Metal Industries LLC to commercially test the new product and take it forward to commercialisation.

Last year a group of graduate students at the institute’s management of entrepreneurship course conducted market research, identified desirable product features and prepared a preliminary business plan for the recycling bin. Using that input, graduate students in a product design course are prototyping the new bin for commercial testing by WMS. “WMS will outsource product development at no charge. In turn, the commercial benefits arising from intellectual property developed as port of the collaboration would be shared,” said the statement.

“This product will change the mindset of the general population towards recycling by ensuring they understand the impact recycling has towards the environment in an innovative and interactive way,” said Mohammed Nassar, managing partner of WMS Metal Industries, which is listed as one of the top 100 SMEs in Dubai by the Dubai Government  and ranks seven in that list.

Professor Dr Bruce Ferguson, head of the Institute’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, said: “This innovative collaboration shows a way for industry to reduce the cost and risk of corporate R&D, while the university can increase the relevance and depth of learning by its students.”

The Masdar Institute was established by the Abu Dhabi Government as a not-for-profit university to develop indigenous R&D capacity in Abu Dhabi and address issues of importance to the region.

In collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the institute has developed an academic and research platform that articulates its mission and vision according to critical energy and sustainability challenges.