In Germany, just 16 percent of plastic waste is recycled. There are even fewer worldwide. This is the result of the “Plastic Atlas 2019”. Plastic waste is increasingly and becoming a global problem. A conceivable solution would be a kind of global reusable system based on DLT. A Feeless solution for payments, as the cryptocurrency IOTA represents it, would be conceivable, because micropayments are possible.

During my vacation this year, I have witnessed the plastic garbage problem in various parts of the world. That is also the reason why I have dealt with it and also read several studies on the subject. Most of the plastic waste is burned or shipped abroad: only about 16 percent of the plastic waste, generated in Germany, is reused for new products. This is the result of the so-called plastic atlas of August 2019.

A reusable system for plastic packaging is not yet available on a global scale for the private customer sector. Although there are some initial approaches in some countries.

Furthermore, only a fraction of the accumulated plastic waste is recycled worldwide — not even 10 % of the plastic ever produced has been recycled. For the most part, disposable products and packaging make up the plastic waste sector.

The impact of plastic garbage on the global climate was examined in the report mentioned above: The Atlas cites an extrapolation from the Center for International Environmental Law stating that by 2050, plastics production could produce 52.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide at current and projected growth rates. Thus, plastics alone could consume between 10 and 13 % of the total carbon budget that the world needs to meet in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Many countries are trying to solve the problem of plastic waste, and the avoidance strategy is probably the best solution. But a complete switch to alternative products is probably still an illusion or could take at least many years. A currently effective solution would be:

avoid

reuse

recycling

dispose in an environmentally friendly manner

My idea is that one solution could be a kind of reusable system for plastic packaging or plastic in general. The one who returns the plastic waste to a delivery (application) point would receive a financial bonus. A financial incentive for the collectors, can bring about the desired effect. The aim of this system would be that the plastic would either be reused, recycled or disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

For this purpose, it is necessary that each plastic package contains a code containing certain data such as e.g. manufacturer information. In addition, it should be ensured that in addition to this data transfer, a financial transfer is possible, so that when returning the packaging to an specific point (with the help of an application), the “money (deposit)” can be transferred. The system can only work meaningfully if micropayments are possible. A fast, safe, but above all a feeless system is a prerequisite for this. Such a system would be conceivable with the cryptocurrency IOTA, because IOTA is more than just a cryptocurrency, because it can optimally link a data transfer and payments.

The idea of a plastic packaging reusable system — a financial incentive for the collectors, can bring the desired effect:

1.) Manufacturers of plastic packaging provide them with a special code that identifies the origin of the packaging and contains a certain amount of money

2.) If a package is returned to a particular application then the amount of IOTA will be returned to the wallet of the person who returned the packaging (garbage).

3.) The manufacturers undertake either to reuse, to recycle or dispose of the spent waste in an environmentally sound manner. If this is not possible, they pay for these things (maybe with government support).

The public IOTA Lab is currently investigating the theoretical possibilities of such an system and an application with IOTA. If you want to support this project, use the options below or contact us.

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I belong to a small independent group called public IOTA. It would be great if you want to support our projects:

Paypal: paypal.me/publicIOTA

IOTA:

TLZYRWLO9MONBAKNJBEMTUFYTKOHNWEMVUD9LONJGDWGAGHSAUURFHQJTCHGCFQLICHCJNABIKBPDLJ9XWORTSIJG9

Thank you very much!

The „public IOTA project“ is not part of the IOTA Foundation or linked to any other way, it is an independent project to support IOTA and it´s applications.

We look forward to your message. Contact: info@publiciota.com