Digital Tools = More Circular Economy Our Learnings

The amount of trash generated globally continues to increase at an alarming rate. We’ve all seen the horrifying images of beaches covered with trash and turtles consuming plastic bags. It’s clear that we require every assistance we can get to effectively manage our waste and reduce it.

My colleagues and I came up with digital solutions that will assist us in tackling two of the biggest issues we have to overcome in our efforts increase recycling within the communities we serve

How can we swiftly transform sorting centers into more efficient and financially self-sustainable? This question led to the development of the Operations Platform (case study 1).

How can we influence the change in behavior of households at a large an accelerated rate? This question led to the development of our Chatbot for WhatsApp. Chatbot (case study 2.).

I’ll begin by sharing the background about our Operation Platform, which is creating unprecedented levels of visibility and monitoring to our local communities’ material recovery facilities. In the next part, I’ll tell you about the story behind the Chatbot which is developing into a potent agent of change in behavior on a large scale.

Sorting centers use an operation platform that makes their work more efficient and more efficient

One of our initial findings was that sorting facilities across the Global South often face data problems. This can make routine tasks extremely complicated, such as monitoring waste levels within the plant, and keeping track of the rate of customer payments.

Managers of sorting centers in Indonesia informed us that this leads to non-collected fees, making it difficult to keep a watchful eye on any reduction in waste occurring on the consumer side. This also hinders efforts to increase the supply of recycled materials to companies willing to invest in reusing the materials. Additionally, centers across the Global South are also likely to lack a system of operations-related data management, including the ability to identify proactively problems with maintenance or budgets.

The idea was to give these centers a simple tool that has a huge impact. We thought of a way to standardize and digitize their data using an easy-to-use solution. To achieve this, we collaborated in collaboration with a garbage management firm that is based in India called Bintix to revamp the tool they developed for sorting facilities in India. Together, we re-designed the tool for community members in Indonesia as well as Argentina. That’s the way the Operations Platform came to be developed.

What exactly is it that it does? It is access to a tool on the web and Android which standardizes and digitizes operational information, making it simpler to control expenses and track the amount of waste being removed from landfills, or to determine the amount of recyclable material offered to aggregaters. Additionally the diversion data that is broken down by route and routes, can be used to determine how effective certain programs are for example, our behavioral change programs.

It is also a great way to improve your operations. Delterra Operations Platform also gives the managers of the sorting center access to helpful tools, such as dashboards for reporting that provide valuable insights to help them make better informed choices. Furthermore, the platform includes automated processes, including auto-billing, which makes missed payments no longer a problem. The process of reporting to regulators and funders is easy and straightforward. In addition, a standard method for monitoring and assessing recyclable materials across regions and sorting centers ensures that a wider range of materials will be processed.

I am excited to share our amazing results from the introduction of the Operations Platform. It’s been operational in eight sorting centers throughout Argentina and Indonesia and has already seen significant positive outcomes. The most significant result is on a personal level has been as high as an improvement of 9X in the amount of time that is spent working on tasks for reconciling cash deposits and cash payments at the end of the month, freeing the time to focus on other tasks.

The program has also proven to have a significant financial impact, with people in Indonesia experiencing payments collection rates rise from 30-40 percent to over 80 percent. This has a significant impact on the life of the sorting center employees and the sustainability and financial stability of the center that their community is dependent on. The end result is that these gains for the community are positive outcomes for the environment as more waste is removed from the earth and redirected into productive usage.