One million plastic bottles are
purchased worldwide every minute, most of which are used once and only for a
few minutes. Half of all plastic produced is designed to be thrown away after a
single use, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). More
than 75% of the plastic produced since the 1950s has ended up in landfill or in
the environment. This practice is not only a waste of resources but an
environmental and public health problem, especially when plastics end up in the
seas and oceans.
Faced with this challenge, the
young industrial civil engineer Cristian Arturo Lara (30 years old) decided to
come up with a solution that would also generate economic benefit and
employment. His answer is an app that connects recyclable waste collectors with
waste generators. Reciclapp makes it possible to identify recyclable material
in homes and businesses and to choose a date and time for home collection. For
this development with social impact that promotes circular economy, Lara
has been chosen by MIT Technology Review in Spanish as one of the Innovators
under 35 Latin America 2023.
Reciclapp "brings recycling in
a convenient, entertaining, and easy way to people, communities, and companies
that want to recycle," explains Lara. This young Chilean has created a
platform that unites the high production of organic and recyclable waste with
the nearly two million informal workers who collect it in Latin America,
allowing the latter to obtain economic profitability. "We make their work
official by having their papers up to date," details Lara. "With our
service, the collectors see themselves as recycling entrepreneurs. Our primary
objective is to support them."
The user receives points redeemable
for prizes when recycling and the collector gets extra income from the
companies that sponsor the app. The platform allows 24 types of recyclable
waste to be collected. In addition, Lara's initiative educates environmentally
and manages recycling at mass events with the Recimóvil, a van that promotes
waste collection by preventing it from ending up in landfills or in nature.
Reciclapp has already contributed
to the recovery of more than 10,000 tons of waste. The app is already
operational in Chile and Mexico thanks to the collaboration of more than fifty
companies. Lara's plans are to expand the initiative to Ecuador, Colombia, and
the United States to continue its dual purpose of increasing the income of
garbage collectors, while generating a culture of recycling and helping to
reduce the amount of waste generated.
