Grant Jenkins '00 Invents Intelligent Waste Disposal System, the PowerBin

"Carmel entrepreneur Grant Jenkins sees a lot of potential in trash," begins an Indianapolis Business Journal story on the 2000 DePauw University graduate and his invention.  A former banker, Jenkins has launched eCeptacle to market his device, the PowerBin.

"The self-compacting bin is about 5 feet tall, can hold three times the amount of the average public trash bin, and can transmit data to municipal and other managers about when it’s full," writes Jared Council. "The bin can also serve as a Wi-Fi hot spot, relay information about reported crimes, and display advertisements. The sky’s the limit, Jenkins said, when the Internet meets ubiquitous, low-key public wastebaskets."

Jenkins, who majored in economics at DePauw, tells IBJ, "You have trash cans that have been around for 100 years and no one thinks about them. You walk past it and you don’t think much of it."

According to Council, "Jenkins’ product, which just hit the market, has already piqued the interest of the Fishers Parks and Recreation Department, the city of Evansville, the Indiana Pacers and nearly two dozen other public- and private-sector entities, he said. And although no formal contracts have been signed, eCeptacle and Downtown Indy partnered to give the PowerBin a complimentary test run on Georgia Street for the Big Ten Football Championship Game Dec. 6 ... Jenkins, who previously worked for JPMorgan Chase, used to live and walk downtown. A lack of recycling bins prompted him to explore solutions, and it wasn’t long before ideas sprang up about potential for the Internet. In 2012, he quit to pursue PowerBin full time."

His business partners include 1997 DePauw graduate Terrill Krigger and eCeptacle has two patents pending.

You'll find the story at the publication's website.

Also available is this previous summary.