How Might We Better Reward Consumers Who Participate in Plastic Recycling?

Sponsored by Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP)

The Problem
When we buy products using plastic bottles and containers, whether they be cosmetic bottles or tea cups, many of us throw them away in trash bins after use.  Only a small proportion of us spend the extra effort to participate in respective companies’ recycling campaigns or place them in designated recycling boxes.  The reality is that we rarely come across campaigns and initiatives that truly offer value to us for our effort.
 
Background & Existing Approach
The world loves and benefits greatly from using plastics.  But in a linear economy where we produce and throw away plastics, our planet is at a great risk.  Almost 75 percent of plastic production ends as waste and the largest proportion is plastic packaging where approximately 97 percent goes to waste – that is 141 million tons of plastic packages per year.  On average, only 9-14 percent of the plastics are recycled.  The rest ends up landfilled, incinerated or leaked into our environment.
 
Governments are running campaigns to raise awareness of the plastic waste problem.  There are also some leading companies who encourage highly-aware consumers to recycle their products.  For example, MUJI, a global retailer of everyday products, encourages their consumers to recycle their no-longer-needed-clothes.  Many retailers follow suit but majority of them struggle to create a practical value for their consumers.
 
Our Solution
We aim to help companies offer a practical benefit to their consumers to increase the participation rate in product recycling campaigns and initiatives.  We do so by:

• Providing a recycling-reward platform for companies and consumers to track both the products and consumers so that recycling activities are transparent and traceable
• Developing smart plastic recycling boxes that allow consumers to appropriately separate used plastic bottles and containers and get instantly rewarded for their actions

 
Impact We Aim to Achieve
To transition our economy into a circular one, government campaigns alone will not be sufficient.  Each company which produces or uses plastic needs to create practical rewards for their consumers to encourage right behaviours.  Our solution helps them increase the recycling participation rate and make a difference to how they operate in the new economy.
 
Partners Wanted for Trial Run Sep 2019
We aim to run a small trial to test our idea of a practical reward program and smart plastic recycling boxes.  If you are passionate about making a difference in how we deal with plastic waste problem and meet any of the below requirement, please get in touch with us.

• Consumer reward system and interfaces
• Consumer and product traceability system using blockchain technology
• Smart recycling box or waste-identification technology

 
Get in Touch with Us
Contact us by 31 July 2019 if you are interested to work with us. 
 
John Yamashita
Lead Researcher of Advanced Technology Development, DNP
Email: Yamashita-J4@mail.dnp.co.jp
​LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/junichiro-john-yamashita-58423b183/