4S: Sustainable & Social Suppliers' Stories
CHAROPY
It’s a problem we’ve all faced… can this rubbish go in that bin?
Regardless of good intentions, we’ve all gotten it wrong. But most of us don’t realise how significant this mistake can be for our recycling efforts. A single piece of waste in the wrong bin can place the entire collection at risk of being non-viable and end up in landfill.
This is the problem that Charopy has set out to eliminate.
WHO ARE THEY?
Charopy is a recycling management solution with a clear purpose: to eliminate recycling bin contamination in any out-of-home location in Australia.
Martin Collings is Charopy’s founder, and recognised that the problem of recycling contamination could not be solved through education, signs and stickers alone. It needed a technical solution that guides people to use recycling bins correctly.
While most people want to do the right thing when it comes to recycling, the problem is lack of awareness regarding what is and isn't eligible for different types of bins.
Together with his team, Charopy has designed and built an innovative smart bin that can detect whether or not a container is eligible to be dropped in.
Charopy’s innovative system is already being used by a number of large private organisations and government offices.
You can see it in action in the short 50sec video below:
There are various types of recycling bin contamination, and the first type that Charopy has solved for is the collection of container deposit scheme (CDS) material, i.e. drink containers. With every state in Australia either having already implemented, or being in the process implementing, a ten cent deposit on most single use drink containers, this type of waste has now become more valuable in any out-of-home location, such as offices, schools, shopping centres and stadiums. A CDS changes the economics of waste collection because in order to attract the highest value, it has to be as contaminant free as possible.
CHAROPY AND THE UN SDGs
When you implement a Charopy recycling solution you are contributing to three important UN Sustainable Development Goals, being Goal #12: Responsible consumption and production, Goal #13: Climate Action and Goal #14 Clean Oceans.
REAL TIME DASHBOARDS: LEARNINGS AROUND RECYCLING
The Charopy online dashboard allows clients to see in real time the contents of any bin at any time - not only how full it is, but how much glass vs PET vs aluminium and other materials are inside, what was collected, and what was recycled over time. This type of data helps clients towards ISO 14001 certification (Management of Environmental Risk) and other relevant standards where it is important to have accurate data on exactly what type of recycling is being collected.
Charopy is investing a lot of time into improving the data capabilities of their smart bins. Based on discussions with sustainability managers around Australia, this powerful data capability is becoming just as important as the original goal of eliminating contamination from the recycling stream.
HOW CAN YOU BRING CHAROPY INTO YOUR BUSINESS?
Charopy is currently seeking pilot customers to test and inform the direction of their smart bins. If you work in sustainability, procurement or are interested to learn more, reach out to Martin Collings at martin@charopy.com.au.
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