RecycleBank: Cash for Trash

RecycleBank, a Philadelphia based startup, pays consumers to recycle.  Using RFID technology, a residential customers recycling amounts are recorded each time their trash is collected.  Depending on the quantity and type of recyclables collected, points are accumulated and later convert to gift certificates for businesses such as Whole Foods, Stonyfield Farms, and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.  Here is how it works:

1) Customer signs up for an account at RecycleBank.com

2) RecycleBank places RFID tags on all your recycle bins

3) You load up your bins with all your recyclable trash

4) The garbage company picks up your trash and your trash amount is automatically calculated

5) You earn RecycleBank reward points to buy gift certificates for your favorite stores

Customers can even track the amount they have recycled and accumulated points on RecycleBank’s website.  This ability to monitor their own performance on a weekly basis will create an incentive for people to monitor and improve how much they recycle.  We all want to do good by the environment, but getting paid for it will make people initiate more effort to follow through.

Cash for Trash

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