Here We Go

At MeCycle, we've spent the past year researching the recycling market and trying to figure out why 71% of plastic bottles and 35% of aluminum cans end up in landfills or oceans. Why we dump one dump-truck full of material in the ocean every minute. Why despite being one of the richest nations in the world, the US is the #3 contributor to ocean plastics world wide. Why we are projected to have more plastic than fish in the ocean in the next 20-30 years.

And, after all that work, we know a few things:

• Almost everyone recycles. 86% of us do to be exact. This isn't a problem with consumers - it's a problem with the system.

• If packages have deposits, they are 3x more likely to be recycled. Guess we love small incentives!

• If package are separated and clean, we can avoid 20-30% of them going to landfills and, they can be recycled into far more valuable things like fleece sweaters and cool sneakers.

• Fun fact - if consumers know what their items will become, they are more likely to recycle.

So we have started (we have a small pilot launching in NY today - whoot, whoot), to build the first consumer centric, data rich recycling experience that helps everyone recycle right. It's super simple. Download the MeCycle app (iOS and Android), scan your packages the drop them in the clean, white MeCycle bin (made of recycled plastic of course). Register your drop so you can get your deposit cash (via Paypal and Venmo) and let MeCycle know when to pick up the bin.

We have so many things we want to add to this platform in the coming months but hey - you have to start somewhere. Feb 22, 2021 feels like as good of a day as any to start solving this problem and helping consumers recycle right. Happy birthday MeCycle. Here. We. Go.