Dr. Khuong An Nguyen has been awarded an Innovate UK grant for Net Zero Living Digital. The project will use Machine Vision to reduce e-waste from printer cartridges.

Printer cartridges are a major environmental problem in the UK, where they account for a large proportion of electronic waste. Despite being one of the biggest consumers of printer cartridges in Europe, the UK recycles only 15% of them annually. The rest end up in landfills, where they take thousands of years to decompose while releasing toxic substances into the environment.

In this project, Dr Khuong An Nguyen will develop a Machine Vision algorithm to automate the sortation of printer cartridges, which is a major bottleneck in the UK cartridge recycling industry. By removing this obstacle, the innovation will foster a more sustainable recycling industry, where less e-waste is generated and contribute toward the government's 2050 Net Zero target.

Innovate UK’s Net Zero Living Programme is a £60 million, three-year programme that aims to help places across the UK to accelerate the delivery of the transition to net zero.