SEEI ITB Student Team Wins “The Most Innovative” Award at Hackathon 2025: AI for Sustainability

Bandung, stei.itb.ac.id – Student team from SEEI ITB has won the “The Most Innovative” award at Hackathon 2025: AI for Sustainability, a competition for students and young researchers to collaborate and create AI-based solutions addressing sustainability challenges. The competition was held from 12–27 November 2025 at the ITB Innovation Park Bandung Technopolis Building and Hotel Papandayan Bandung.

In this event, the SEEI ITB team developed Zesto, an artificial intelligence–based application that integrates food shelf-life detection, real-time pantry stock management, and recipe recommendations based on available ingredients—particularly those nearing expiration. The innovation aims to help reduce food waste while making daily cooking more efficient for users. The approach was deemed highly relevant to the theme of sustainable consumption and production, leading the team to earn the “The Most Innovative” title. . .

According to the team, Zesto originated from a common real-life problem: food ingredients that get thrown away because people forget to use them before their shelf life ends. Further investigation revealed that food waste is a significant issue in Indonesia, making the country the largest contributor to food waste in Southeast Asia. This condition reflects the lack of an effective consumer-level solution to address food waste, prompting the team to design Zesto as a tool that empowers households to shop and cook more efficiently while supporting sustainable living. . . . . . .

Zesto allows users to input ingredients through typing, barcode scanning, or photos. The system then uses AI to identify items, track their shelf life and expiration dates, and monitor pantry stock. When ingredients are nearing expiration or supplies are running low, Zesto sends notifications to the user. Based on available ingredients, the app provides recipe recommendations, prioritizing items that are close to expiring. Zesto is also connected to NGOs to help redistribute still-consumable food that users no longer need and provides an analytics dashboard that visualizes cost savings and emissions reductions achieved.

The team members involved in developing Zesto were Olivia Christy Lismanto (STI’22), Randy Verdian (IF’22), Adinda Putri (IF’23), and Azfa Radhiyya Hakim (IF’23). The entire process—from ideation to prototype completion—was carried out throughout the Hackathon 2025 program.

The achievement of the SEEI ITB student team in earning “The Most Innovative” award at Hackathon 2025: AI for Sustainability demonstrates the capability and commitment of students to deliver technology solutions with meaningful societal impact. Zesto showcases not only technical proficiency in AI development but also a strong dedication to addressing sustainability challenges through relevant, applicable, and everyday-oriented innovation. This accomplishment is expected to inspire more students to contribute to the advancement of sustainable technologies in the future.