Recycling: Vending machine rewards you for trash
“Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to a sustainable South Africa.”
Every year, over 12-million tonnes of waste is generated in the country, reports Beautiful News.
Why is waste harmful? According to World Bank blog, 'poorly managed waste is contaminating the world’s oceans, clogging drains and causing flooding, transmitting diseases, increasing respiratory problems from burning, harming animals that consume waste unknowingly, and affecting economic development such as through tourism'.
To preserve the environment, it is important to recycle waste material.
In 2015, Justin Needham and his brother established South Africa's first ever reverse vending machine through the company Imagined Earth.
READ: Why you must not throw away your old phone
Justin told Beautiful News that he believes that people waste material because of lack of recycling facilities.
“My belief is that people are inherently good and they want to do the right thing for the planet. I think the challenge has always been a lack of facilities, and in our view, a lack of incentive,” he told the publication.
His machines, which are located across the country, including shopping malls and petrol stations, allow people to get incentives for recycling waste material.
How it works is that you scan the barcode of the item you want to recycle and the machine will tell you if it recyclable and the value of the item. Then you will receive money into your digital wallet on the app. As an incentive, you can get a payment to buy airtime, shares, or receive coupons.
“We want to make recycling as easy and convenient and rewarding for South Africans as possible,” Needham told the publication.
In conclusion, he says: "Everyone has a responsibility to contribute to a sustainable South Africa.”
Catch stories such as these by listening to Danny Painter every Monday to Thursday from 19:00 to 22:00.
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Image courtesy of Beautiful News.