Ericsson Connected Recycling: A Platform that Transforms Trash into Cash

Ericsson Connected Recycling is the new unit created by Ericsson ONE intrapreneurs, an internal accelerator for Ericsson employees with pioneering new ideas.

Ericsson Connected Recycling intends to provide an international solution for tracking polyethylene terephthalate bottles via a recycling tracking platform.

The platform deals with massively removing waste and turning trash into cash. This system could efficiently increase waste transparency and create a circular value chain.

Today, it often costs recycling companies more to collect the used plastic than they get from selling it.

Instead of having big drink corporations buy new material from producers, this system allows PET materials to be obtained from a recycler who pays collectors to return bottles, creating a closed-loop system.

Through the Ericsson Wallet Platform, consumers, by recycling items such as PET bottles, would receive incentives to their e-wallet, contributing to increased volumes of recycled material to be provided for key global Fast Moving Consumer Goods companies.

The Ericsson Wallet Platform and the Ericsson Connected Recycling allow governments and manufacturers to see where the PET bottles are ending up to encourage people to recycle them and create a chain of responsibility.

The platform could also assist with the recycling of other materials such as aluminum and glass.

It works like this: If an individual comes to the waste collection point with ten bottles, he will be paid for them by the waste management collection company through the Ericsson Mobile Wallet Platform.

Waste management then sells the bottles to the recycler through the Ericsson Connected Recycling application. The recycler reprocesses the PET bottles and sells them again – back to the extensive drink corporations – closing the circular system.

The project is set to be rolled out in the Middle East and replicated in countries where the Wallet Platform exists.