e-Condi: Electronic Condiment Dispensing Machine in Public Markets

Usage of single-serve plastic condiments when cooking or in every food take out has increased dramatically over the past decade. In the Philippines alone, liquid condiments sold in single-serve plastics or “tingi” is rampant in nearly all its public markets. According to the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA-Philippines) report, this practice is an obvious contributor to the global plastic waste crisis aggravated by improper disposal at the community level. For this purpose, an electronic liquid condiment dispenser (e-ConDi) that supports the promotion of sustainable alternative packaging was developed. e-ConDi is a self-service, coin-operated condiment dispenser using Greedy Algorithm for the coin change problem stored on ATmega2560 board. System test results of e-ConDi demonstrated highly acceptable functionality and efficiency with an over-all AWM result of 4.62 or a verbal interpretation (VI) of Highly Acceptable. Overall, the approach yields a clear goal to help eliminate the use of single-serving plastic condiment packets through an affordable refilling prototype to service the local or domestic market.