VkusVill installed 100 “smart” boxes for collecting recyclable materials at its own stores in Moscow and the Moscow region, the company’s press service told RB.RU. The devices accept plastic caps from drinking products and charge bonuses for this, which can be spent on the spot.
Eco-exchangers are a new type of machines created by the Russian startup ITES for STS.
To use the eco-exchanger, you need to lower the plastic cover into a special compartment. The machine will display the number of caps returned and the bonuses earned.
The buyer can receive a bonus for three caps by indicating the phone number linked to the VkusVilla loyalty card. The bonuses will arrive within an hour and will be visible in the application. The collected caps will be recycled by the Tver Secondary Polymer Plant.
VkusVill already has vending machines to collect cans and bottles, but the company has been unable to solve the problem of developing a scanning system that would identify an item and verify it as a cap.
“As a result, the eco-exchangers were equipped with special sensors that fix the caps and “translate” them into bonuses. The machine also collects data on the amount of recyclables delivered and systematizes the information,” the company said in a statement.
Likewise, the new eco-changers will replace the collection plug containers that VkusVill has installed in its stores since 2019. During this time, buyers have collected 130 tons of recyclable materials.
The current map of eco-exchangers in Moscow and the Moscow region can be viewed at the link. In the future, VkusVill will expand the geography of vending machines, as well as introduce other types of eco-exchangers, including those for blister packs and plastic cards.
Author:
anastasia mariana
Source: RB
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