Tokenizing plastic waste
Giving plastic waste a value to close the tap and clean it up!
When it comes to recycling of plastic bottles the World looks to the Nordic countries. The plastic bottle deposit system where you get a few cents back if you deliver the empty bottle at the store when you are done, does by itself ensure that the recycling rate of plastic bottles in this market is above 90%, compared to the 10–30% in most other markets
Testing out the version 1.0 of the Empower Deposit App, April 2018, Hoddevik, Norway
Real incentives work, even when they are as insignificant for most people as $0.15 are in Norway, the impact is overwhelming. People still gather the bottles and deliver them for recycling to get their reward. This system does also have an educational effect as kids are told from early days that bottles can be gathered and delivered in return for some cash. For a kid this incentive is pretty good as well, you can quickly gather enough bottles for a lollipop or ice cream!
So what if we could use the same kind of incentives to increase the recycling rate of plastic waste in general? What if you could easily help us solve a global problem (by going Plastic Positive )
The recycling rate of plastic on a globale basis is somewhere around 8–9%, and this is with very limited incentives for most types of plastic. Plastic has a value, but you need volumes and you need competence. In Empower we believe that if we can give everyone who cleanup or collects plastic waste an immediate award, if we can give an incentive to gather, sort and deliver plastic waste for recycling, we will be able to increase the recycling rate of plastic significantly all over the World. If we can reach raise the global recycling rates on all plastic closer to 90% this will have an amazing environmental and financial impact.
Empower issue the awards as tokens, as EMPs (EmpowerCoins). Just as with the bottle deposit system, you will immediately get the value in your hands (or as in this case, on your phone) when you deliver the plastic waste at a collection point. We do this as cost efficient and securely as possible using blockchain technology to issue digital, borderless tokens. This way anyone can take on the job of collecting plastic waste and get a fair payment for the job. We create meaningful job opportunities for the extremely poor, without going through central entities or banks that would otherwise take a huge chunk of the value and make direct micro payments impossible or make the jobs inaccessible because of lack of IDs and access to bank accounts.
The Empower App provides the users with their own simple sovereign ID and a wallet for EMP tokens, so that anyone can do the job and get their reward. In this app we are also looking to provide valuable financial services otherwise not available to most waste pickers. Like this micro loan pilot project together with Norwegian outdoor furniture prodigy Vestre.
With equal opportunities to take on jobs, a fair direct payment and without middle men, we allow anyone to contribute. This means that we can take one global problem and use it to solve the other. We can make cleaner World while fighting inequality and reduce poverty.
Read more about Empower and support the #plasticwastemovement at www.empower.eco . Be #plasticpositive !
