It’s almost unheard of for a 12 year old to be granted a patent, but that’s what has happened to Japanese schoolgirl Asuka Kamiya. Her simple piece of recycling equipment is made up of plastic boards and a large magnet.
The premise for her innovative recycling equipment is that a magnet is a simple way to separate steel and aluminium cans. Cans are dropped through a hole in the top of the bin, with aluminium cans, which are not magnetic, dropping to the bottom, and steel cans, which are magnetic, being pulled into a different compartment.
Asuka built the bin in the summer of 2014 with her father, for a science project. She built it for her grandfather, who she had seen struggling to separate the cans in front of their house. When considering how her recycling equipment was brilliant simplicity, she said “Even I myself didn’t think it would be possible to separate empty cans just by dropping them”.
Asuka is one of less than ten schoolchildren to receive a patent for their inventions in Japan, and was heralded at her school for her ingenuity.