Reducing packaging through connected smart dispensers.

循环经济的一个关键挑战是减少包装的使用量。虽然以前曾尝试过干燥食品和液体的无包装零售，但由于难以使用且作为零售商和制造商运营成本高昂，因此尚未被消费者广泛采用。Smartfill是一个无包装分配平台，从易于使用的智能分配器和物联网设备扩展到基于云的物流数据和库存管理。我们的愿景是创建一个开放的系统，使用低成本的电子和软件组件，使零售商和制造商能够提供无包装零售，并降低消费者成本。如果我们成功，将有数百万个定制或批量生产的智能分配器，用于所有零售商，食堂甚至火车站的各种产品。我们可以减少数百万吨的包装。我们已经在非洲的非正规零售商中成功地试用了我们的技术，为低收入家庭提供负担得起的食品，并赢得了许多设计奖项。我们的下一步是为现代英国零售商和消费者设计版本。

A key challenge for a circular economy is to reduce the amount of packaging being used. While package-free retail for dry foods and liquids has been attempted before, it has not had widespread consumer adoption due to being hard to use and expensive to operate as a retailer and manufacturer.Smartfill is a package-less dispensing platform that extends from easy-to-use smart dispensers and IoT devices to cloud-based logistics data and inventory management. Our vision is to create an open system with low-cost electronic and software components that enable retailers and manufacturers to offer package-less retail profitably and reduce consumer costs.If we are successful there can be millions of smart dispensers, custom-built or mass-produced, for a variety of products across all retailers, canteens and even train stations. We can reduce millions of tonnes in packaging.We have successfully piloted our technology in Africa at informal retailers to provide affordable food to low income households and won numerous design awards. Our next steps are to design versions for the modern UK retailer and consumer.