International

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle now 9 Rs

Darcy Hitchcock

The chasing-arrows recycling logo has long reflected the 3 Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But if we want a Circular, Zero Waste Economy, we need to triple the 3 Rs into nine.

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/05/the-circular-economy-how-it-can-be-a-path-to-real-change/

This year the Circular Accelerators program resulted in these promising entrepreneurial ventures. (If you prefer a video summary, click here.)

  • Aquacycl has developed a modular, onsite wastewater treatment technology that reduces up to 90% of organic carbon and reduces wastewater management costs by 20% to 60%. The technology can then generate direct electricity from ultra-high strength organic wastewater.
  • Done Properly is a biotechnology company with a patent-pending proprietary fermentation technology which upcycles industrial by-products into a new generation of 100% natural ingredients.
  • ECOLOO is an award-winning, patented, off-grid, water-free and energy-free toilet. ECOLOO makes use of bacterial culture to process human waste into odour-free and sanitized fertilizer.
  • GreenPlat is a technology company that offers an online Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) software, accelerating sustainable production and reverse logistics management.
  • Green Mining has developed an intelligent reverse logistics technology to recover post-consumer packaging before it reaches landfill, tracking material flows digitally to efficiently retrieve post-consumer packaging and bring it back into the production cycle.
  • I-Drop designs, builds and installs self-service, purified and connected refill drinking water dispensers based on circular economy principles.
  • Kudoti offers a digital platform that tracks waste supply chains end-to-end in real time, matching it with demand from recyclers to boost recycling rates.
  • Lizee provides software as a service (SaaS) and certified logistics services for brands and retailers to quickly deploy and scale their most powerful re-commerce offers.
  • Mr. Green Africa has built a tech-driven plastics recycling system which recycles plastic-waste into high-quality raw materials.
  • Mycocyle is a patent-pending Process as a Service (PaaS) using fungi to remove toxins from landfill-bound waste, creating a renewable biomaterial that can be used to manufacture new products and reduce carbon output.
  • Polycare is a circular construction company, which licences the technology to produce ‘Polyblocks’, reusable, zero-waste building blocks made of circular inputs and stronger than conventional concrete.
  • Queen of Raw is a blockchain enabled marketplace for deadstock fabric, connecting underutilized textile resources with demand while reducing costs, carbon emissions and waste.
  • RE develop smart returnable packaging as a service that brands can lease, and consumers can use and return for reuse or refill instead of adding to landfill.
  • Reflauntis a technology company that helps brands and consumers to resell their branded clothing without having to leave the brand’s website.
  • Rice Afrika is a technology platform that connects all stakeholders across the Nigerian rice value chain, providing rural farmers with modern, eco-friendly, and efficient harvesting machines to cut exploitation and waste.
  • Saathi has developed a patented technology to make biodegradable sanitary pads using banana and bamboo fibres taken from agricultural waste.