Delft Design alumnus Jerry de Vos wins James Dyson Award sustainability prize

The project uses the open source GPL-v3 license, which means that third parties are free to use the project, provided that this right is also passed on to others and the author(s) are mentioned. The Plastic Scanner builds upon Armin Straller's ReReMeter project, by applying the technology in a portable form. This design was the basis for Jerry to eventually make the Plastic Scanner into a tangible product by continually iterating and improving it with, for example, a mini-computer, battery, screen, button and the housing of the final prototype.

Jerry learnt that much plastic entering our oceans comes from low and middle-income countries. It is his mission to support recycling initiatives in these nations with the way he designed the low-cost and ease of use of the Plastic Scanner. During development, Jerry interviewed recyclers from India, Indonesia, Kenya and Curacao to ensure his model was suitable for end users.

Next steps

Now that his design has won the James Dyson Award Sustainability Prize, Jerry has gathered a team of friends specialising in embedded systems and machine learning to support his creation of new prototypes and pilot the Scanner in both industry and low resource contexts. Long-term his goal is to make the project sustain itself, with DIY versions of the Scanner, whilst enriching open-source documentation to make it easier for others to get involved and contribute to his mission: ‘I want the Plastic Scanner to be the simple, open-source device that can identify the most common types of plastic. Winning the James Dyson Award will help accelerate the development process on both the electronics, as well as the software side of the invention. By improving its quality and making it intuitive to replicate, I hope to enable anyone to identify and sort plastic properly, overcoming one of the most complex barriers to plastic recycling  around the world.’