In brief: Download RECAPP to become eco-warrior. Recyclables are collected at your doorstep. Easy, free of charge and rewardful.
| The challenge
The sanitary context of 2020 has reinforced consumer demand for sustainability. If “recycling behaviour” seems to be the most established, they need to be secured in the region and more commonly adopted in a daily lifestyle. Worldwide, nearly 80% of consumers want to be able to make a difference in saving the planet for future generations.
United Arab Emirates (9.6 million inhabitants) generates approximately 7 million tonnes of waste /yr and states from one of the world highest generation rate of waste per capita with 2 kg/capita/day. Nowadays, recycling rate in the UAE drops below 10%, mainly due to a lack of awareness and segregation infrastructure, whilst the government sustainable agenda for 2030 aims to divert 75% of the waste produced in UAE from landfills.
| Veolia’s solution
First launched by Veolia Middle East in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, RECAPP is the UAE’s first free-of-charge digital door-to-door service collecting recyclables and rewarding responsible behaviour for its members. RECAPP is a trustworthy and effortless solution for collection of recyclables, raising awareness and creating a sense of community for a more sustainable lifestyle.
RECAPP has partnered with Borouge, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), Nestlé, Masdar, Agthia, Al Ain, Rainbow, Total Energies and Carrefour to support the launch of the application. Furthermore, the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE) endorses the initiative. Aiming to showcase their commitment to driving a circular economy in the UAE, participating industry members strive to close the loop for various materials by partnering in an innovative recyclable collection scheme that enables segregation at source and diversion away from landfills.
Recapp is a trustworthy and effortless solution of recyclable collections with 3 goals:
- Involve all stakeholders to capture recyclable post-consumed packaging to make sure that they are effectively recycled. The industry partners are part of a larger coalition of organizations, the CIRCLE Coalition (Coalition of Innovation in Recycling towards a Closed Loop Economy), which acts under the endorsement of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment (MOCCAE), and is committed to develop a circular economy model to tackle the issue of packaging waste pollution across the whole of the United Arab Emirates.
- Raise awareness and create a sense of community for a more sustainable lifestyle. RECAPP brings along a solution to challenges faced as residents and citizens strive to partake in the circular economy and transition to more sustainable households.
- Reward responsible behaviours. RECAPP empowers each individual in their recycling process by offering an easy and efficient way to schedule pick-ups for recyclable material such as plastic bottles and aluminum cans. It also offers a reward program to incentivize recycling amongst its members. “The more you recycle, the more points you win” is the core principle of RECAPP. Consumers are able to redeem rewards from the online rewards marketplace. Each time a user recycles, points are accumulated based on the weight of the collected recyclables.
