In 2019 the City of Warsaw, together with Our Earth Foundation, EcoTech System and Coca-Cola, launched in Warsaw the first network of Recyklomats in Poland. These are devices for selective waste collection, which is an attractive way to remind residents that it is worth segregating waste. The machines supplement the infrastructure for collection of raw materials “at the source” under the name Incentive System of Waste Management.
It consists of two elements: a network of Recyklomats (smart garbage cans) and a central transaction system. To use the solution, all you need to do is download the mobile application “ECO Wallet” to your smartphone and use the Recyklomat, which automatically sorts packaging waste, and the system registers all transactions and rewards the user for sorting by assigning the appropriate number of ECO points to his/her account, which can be exchanged for benefits such as prizes, discounts or rebates at project partners (among others cinemas and theatres).
What is the mission of the project?
The project’s mission is education, which today in Poland is the most important and most difficult element of the entire waste management system. And also to motivate the inhabitants to change their behaviour and habits.
Where and when did the project start?
The project started in Warsaw in 2019, with the official launch taking place in July 2019.
Where (in which countries) is the service offered today?
The first Recyklomats were placed in Warsaw, today they are also located in Kraków, and in the near future the network will be extended to smaller towns all over Poland. The collected ECO points can be exchanged for prizes and discount coupons at partners all over Poland.
To whom is this project aimed? Who belongs to your target group?
The concept of action takes into account four main groups of recipients/customers: inhabitants, local governments, recycling industry, and business partners.
It is worth emphasising that all project partners are participants and all benefit from the Incentive System of Waste Management – 4 x win:
1 – Inhabitants – exchange of waste for financial profits and discount programmes.
2 – Local governments, housing cooperatives – achieving EU levels of recovery and recycling, which will translate into financial benefits in the form of avoidance of penalties and lower costs of waste collection.
3 – Recycling industry – obtaining clean, correctly sorted secondary raw materials, which will affect the quality of service and reduce operating costs of entities.
4 – Business partners – gaining marketing tools for reaching new customers, strengthening sales in the area of vending machine locations, building a positive brand image based on the created loyalty system, gaining access to data on consumption structure for each location of the machine.
However, the solution can be used by everyone – people already interested in ecology and those who are just beginning their adventure with waste segregation alike. The target group includes all residents of Warsaw – both the elderly and the youngest, who can influence their parents with their segregation efforts.