Canary Wharf Group has launched a new app with HELPFUL to encourage widespread reuse and recycling across the estate.
Image: HELPFUL is a free app tackling the problem of coffee cups and plastic bottles not being recycled properly and ending up in the landfill and our oceans. Photo: Courtesy of Canary Wharf Group PLC.
In an industry first, piloted by Canary Wharf Group, the app will help those visiting and working on the Canary Wharf estate to correctly recycle their waste, make the switch to reusable products to avoid single-use plastic and collect rewards in a pioneering Estate-wide effort to drive behavioral change.
As part of Canary Wharf Group’s continued campaign towards becoming a Plastic Free Commercial Centre with Surfers Against Sewage, the customised app is a step forward in making it easier for the community to adopt new reuse and recycling habits in an unparalleled scheme in the UK. This is the first time that HELPFUL have been able to incorporate rewards for reuse as well as recycling on a large scale.
By downloading the HELPFUL app, adapted and geo-fenced especially for the Canary Wharf estate, consumers will be able to scan their plastic waste and receive immediate feedback from the app, telling them exactly where on the Estate they will be able to recycle or reuse the plastic products.
In return, they will receive a virtual reward “coin”, redeemable via QR codes on the recycling/reuse points, which they can then spend at participating retailers on the Estate.
Canary Wharf Group sustainability head Martin Gettings said: “This app is an incredibly useful tool for informing people about different plastics used in products, as well as highlighting where our Deposit Return Scheme, water refill stations and recycling points can be found on the Estate.
“Even better, HELPFUL enables customers to collect rewards online; in a future-thinking step we are using ‘gamification’ to make recycling fun. Utilizing technology like this is a brilliant way to enable people to get involved, make a difference and be rewarded in doing so.”
HELPFUL app founder Evan Michaels said: “Working with Canary Wharf Group has been highly insightful and proven it is possible to tackle single-use plastic waste on a large scale. We’re delighted to be contributing towards their ‘Breaking the Plastic Habit’ campaign and moving the Estate one step closer to Plastic Free Commercial Centre Status.
“It is our hope that our work with Canary Wharf Group will form a template for other communities as they set an example that sustainability can be achieved by empowering people with innovative, accessible and smart technology“.
Surfers Against Sewage founder Hugo Tagholm said: “It’s incredible to see the steps Canary Wharf Group have taken, going above and beyond what is required, in working towards their Plastic Free Commercial Centre status. Their project moves the work of Surfers Against Sewage past the beaches and into the City, which is exceptionally exciting looking ahead to 2019.
By making recycling and reusing products easier than ever across the Estate, Canary Wharf Group is ensuring that engagement on the project goes beyond their tenants right through to each member of the micro-society in a way that will drive behavioural change once and for all.”
Source: Company Press Release.