RECAPP unveiled its digital recycling platform catered towards various UAE businesses, on 10 November in Dubai. Using their website GoRECAPP.com, businesses can deploy recycling boxes on their premises and schedule regular pickups.
On GoRECAPP.com, companies can order a one-time recycling box or subscribe to a weekly collection. Plastic bottles, cans, paper, coffee capsules, electronic waste, batteries, and lightbulbs are just a few of the items that can be recycled in the recycling boxes, which are designed to target smaller waste streams that are typically not well recovered.
Additionally, RECAPP now offers a brand program that allows businesses to set up recycling boxes in their own stores or in the stores of their retail partners to collect used goods brought back by customers.
RECAPP was launched by Veolia, a company that provides environmental services, in November 2020. Citing statistics in its press release, RECAPP claimed that it has “built a community of over 40,000 registered users and collected 500 tonnes of recyclables and over 25 million bottles and cans. On average, RECAPP completes 2,300 collections per week with 115,000 collections honoured to date, and over 5.5 kg per collection with a rejection rate of less than 4%.”
The company also says its website dashboard will allow customers to fully automate and digitise operations. Meanwhile, the redesigned RECAPP app, which will launch on 3 December this year, will also allow customers to view the impact of their recycling solutions.
At an event held by Veolia in Dubai, Jérôme Viricel, General Manager of RECAPP at Veolia Near & Middle East, said that RECAPP was not just a recycling app, but a fully digital solution for companies.
The dashboard will help measure the KPIs necessary to track companies’ ESG targets like measuring carbon emissions. They will be able to embed their target trackers into their websites as well, apart from being able to use the app for advertisements.
Additionally, the company is providing a brand program that enables businesses to place recycling bins in their own stores or in the stores of their retail partners in order to collect used goods brought back by customers.
Viricel said: “We are proud to launch the RECAPP e-commerce website and our broader business offering, the latest in our efforts to provide a comprehensive digital recycling solution in the UAE for individuals, businesses, and waste management companies. Our new services will empower local organisations to close the loop, diverting their waste away from landfills and towards RECAPP’s segregation facilities in order to help keep the environment clean for all.”
The company has deployed its bins across 40 schools and 50 offices with 6 brands working with RECAPP to promote awareness about the correct methods of recycling.
The app can also be used by single households to manage and monitor waste, apart from scheduling regular visits to pick up paper and plastic for recycling.
The company’s Digital Project Engineer Rafik Sid said that the app was redesigned to make it more “ergonomic and user-friendly” with gamification being an important aspect to incentivise households to recycle paper and plastic. This is a key aspect of reducing waste, said the company, citing that less than 15% of the world’s plastic is recycled while the rest is emptied into landfills or incinerated.
Viricel stressed that the essence of RECAPP is the “preservation of the planet by spreading awareness to the whole community through a digital tool to improve waste collection service in the UAE.”