Prototyping Design Sprint
A modular smart bin designed for New Loop’s reusable packaging system to encourage cup returns, New Loop’s circular mission and enhances sustainable behaviour in public spaces.
Client
New Loop (Inter-programme group project)
Year
Aug 2024 - Sep 2024
This project was developed during an interdisciplinary prototyping sprint involving ten students from across the school. The brief was to design a modular, engaging, and aesthetically adaptable bin for New Loop, a company offering a circular system for reusable takeaway packaging through delivery, collection, washing, and redistribution. Our goal was to create a bin that would increase cup return rates while fitting seamlessly into various environments such as cafés, offices, and events.
My contribution focused on shaping the design strategy, exploring modularity, and examining how sensory cues can influence user behaviour. The geometry of New Loop’s cups—wider at the top and naturally stacking into a perfect cylinder—guided the choice of a cylindrical form for the bin. This ensured that the design felt intuitive, simple, and consistent with the behaviour of the product it supports.
Modularity became a central principle of the concept. Each bin can be used individually or combined into larger clusters, allowing it to adapt to different spatial needs and deployment contexts. Inspired by the infinity loop symbol that reflects New Loop’s circular mission, this modular approach improves usability, reduces production complexity, and makes the system scalable across multiple locations.
To strengthen user engagement, we explored how sensory experiences could make returning a cup more rewarding. Drawing inspiration from Japanese musical roads, the familiar “ping” of digital payments, and the tactile Pant deposit experience, we designed internal ridges of varying spacing inside the bin. When a cup is dropped, these ridges create a unique musical sound, influenced partly by the natural air pockets within New Loop’s corrugated cup design and the principles of the guiro instrument. This auditory feedback adds a playful, memorable moment that reinforces positive behaviour.
The combination of modular form, visual clarity, and sensory interaction transforms the bin into more than just a functional object. It becomes a tool for community awareness—highlighting the value of reuse, encouraging repeated participation, and aligning with New Loop’s mission to reduce single-use plastic. Through this prototype, we demonstrated how thoughtful design can elevate everyday infrastructure and support more sustainable habits in public spaces.