Answering recycling's most complex question: "Can I recycle this?"

Brut America

Fact: Only 9 percent of plastic ever made has been recycled.   These entrepreneurs built an app to ensure more recyclables end up where they belong. CIRT - Can I Recycle This?

Transcript

00:00The recycling system has a lot of problems.

00:02Say you've got 20 different items,

00:05they probably have 20 different types of packaging.

00:07With CERT, you scan this QR code,

00:10and it gives you the results on what to do

00:12with this packaging wherever you are.

00:24We set out to answer this question,

00:25can I recycle this anywhere, anytime?

00:30If you've ever heard the viral stat,

00:41only 9% of plastic that has ever been made

00:44has been recycled.

00:45That's based on our research.

00:47Another 12% had been incinerated,

00:49and so that means 79% has ended up either in a landfill

00:53or in the open environment.

00:54We started getting questions from all over the world

00:58about recycling.

00:59And that was the genesis behind CERT.

01:14Take, for instance, this container.

01:15So this bottom material is HDPE number two plastic,

01:19but the lid is number five polypropylene plastic.

01:23So these things can't go together in the recycling.

01:26So let's say you order something from e-commerce.

01:28There are three different logos on here,

01:30which makes it really hard to understand

01:33what to do with it at its end of life.

01:51Wicked Weed Brewing is one of our customers.

01:53Our QR code is here on their packaging.

01:56And when a consumer scans this,

01:58they know what to do with the box, the cans,

02:01wherever they are across the U.S.

02:04In Athens, Georgia, where I am.

02:05So the aluminum can needs to be recycled curbside,

02:08and so does the cardboard box.

02:10Similarly, if you did this down the road,

02:11you can scan it and it would pull your location in Atlanta,

02:15or New York, or Seattle, or Denver,

02:17and tell you what to do with it where you are.

02:19So with just one company,

02:21we could offset over 500,000 metric tons of CO2

02:25and save millions of pounds of waste per year.

02:45So with just one company,

02:46we could offset over 500,000 metric tons of CO2

02:49and save millions of pounds of waste per year.

02:52Cities get access to the data

02:54about what their citizens are asking about

02:55in their jurisdictions.

03:12One dumped truck of plastic enters the ocean every minute.

03:16Single-use item consumption.

03:18I am hopeful about the future of the planet.

03:20A lot of our issues are human-centric,

03:23and therefore they require human solutions.

03:26Collecting good data is a good place to start.

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