Piyatida "Nan" Luangon
Piyatida Luangon is the founder of EcoBin, an AI-powered smart recycling bin that collects used cooking oil to be recycled into biodiesel. Here's her story:
My interest in oil pollution started in seventh-grade science, when I first learned about oil spills and their effects on the environment. In ninth grade, I explored the topic further for my Biology I research project where I studied oil spills and the microorganisms that can help break them down.
Through my research, I learned that there are services in Thailand that collect used cooking oil and recycle it into biodiesel and other fuels. That made me think about 18 Court Market, a market next to my house that I have been visiting with my mom since I was little.
Growing up, I often saw vendors pour their used cooking oil down the drain or onto the soil. I had seen it so many times that I never really questioned it. But once I learned that used cooking oil could actually be recycled, I started wondering: Why wasn't that happening at the market?
I began talking to the vendors and learned that many of them produced small amounts of used oil, making it difficult or inconvenient to use existing collection services. I realized that the problem wasn't that people didn't care. There simply wasn't an easy and accessible way for them to recycle their oil.
That was what led me to start EcoBin in ninth grade. I wanted to create a system that made collecting and recycling used cooking oil easier for local markets and communities.
"We kept hearing the same story at market after market — vendors pouring small amounts of used oil down the drain because there was nowhere convenient to take it. EcoBin exists to make the right choice the easy choice, one bin at a time."