Inventor Daniel Woolman is hoping to be crowned the nation’s top entrepreneur next week after making it to the final of the Shell 2009 LiveWire Awards.
Mr Woolman, 26, is the inventor of Binifresh, an automatic hygiene and odour control device that fits into the inside of a wheelie bin.
He has spent the past three years developing the product, which is being stocked in Asda, Lakeland and John Lewis. He is in talks with Tesco and Homebase.
A history graduate from the University of Leeds, Mr Woolman tells People: “I was watching the neighbours going to put rubbish in their bins and everyone had their own strategy to avoid touching the bins: some people would angle their head away to avoid the smell; and others would use part of the bag to open the lid so as not to touch it with their hands. A lot of people have problems with their bins, so it was a no-brainer really.” He points out that there have been moves towards fortnightly bin collections and growing unrest across the UK about the state of wheelie bins. “I could see it was a real problem.”
Mr Woolman, who lives in Hendon, north London, is one of eight hopefuls to be selected to go through to the final on October 27.
How does Binifresh work? It is secured to a wheelie bin and automatically neutralizes and eliminates odours from rubbish, as well as killing bacteria on the surface of the bin, using the specially formulated Binifresh refills. He has sold more than 10,000 units since starting to trade.
