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Finbin wins green manus® with plastic bearings used in solar energy garbage can

Application Overview:


  • Industry: waste management
  • Customer requirement: maintenance-free and fail-safe bearing points
  • igus solution: iglide G plain bearings,  iglide M250 double flange bearing

The company Finbin receives the green manus for the use of iglide plain bearings and double flange bearings in electric garbage cans.

The Finnish company Finbin is developing a rubbish bin that compacts waste with the help of solar energy. The unique system significantly reduces both operating costs and the ecological footprint. The patented technology ensures that the waste is compressed in a ratio of 6.
 
Another advantage: the intelligent rubbish bin autonomously notifies the waste management system of its fill level. The bin functions as an independent unit for public use. Therefore, all components must be as maintenance-free as possible. In the clamping rods, the engineers use polymer plain bearings, and for the hatch, pedal and pedal transmission rods, they use the tribo-polymer iglide G. The bearings work without external lubricants and are insensitive to dust and dirt.

Finbin
Finbin

Maintenance-free components

To increase the sustainability of the new type of waste bins, the engineers use components that do not require any maintenance. After all, every maintenance operation causes CO2 emissions – solely through travel to the site. Finding such components was not always easy. An example: the plain bearings for the mechanics of the press and the skirting board.

Classic bearings made of metal were out of the question for the job. Why? Firstly, because there would be a risk of corrosion with high humidity. Secondly, because the lubrication of metal bearings can lead to several problems. It would combine with dust and dirt and, over time, become a paste that reduces the bearing's sliding ability, making the system less smooth and, in the worst case, leading to failure.

To avoid these problems, the engineers set out to find self-lubricating plain bearings made of high-performance plastic.

"We looked extensively at bearings from various manufacturers", Antti Kinnunen, Head of Marketing and Product Management at Finbin, recalls. "Durability and reliability were the main criteria and the reason why we chose plain bearings from igus."

Electric rubbish bin with iglidur plain bearings