Plastic Expert reviews the Coca Cola Recyclometer…
Recycling without seeing the benefits often means that many aren’t as conscious as they should be about the impact their waste has on the environment. However, many businesses are coming up with some fantastic ideas in order to make their customers more aware of the implications of their waste and the benefits they can gain from recycling.
The Recyclometer from Coca-Cola allows the user to select things they’ve recycled to show them the amount of energy they’ve saved. From a global giant like Coca-Cola it’s key that they have recycling in mind especially when one considers that they are the number one soft drinks producer in the world, which means a lot of plastic bottles and cans with their label on.
Once the ‘get started’ button has been clicked, the Recyclometer allows users to select the items they’ve recycled and put them into a list, allowing the quantities to be changed. It then conveys the results in terms of how long the items they’ve recycled can be used to power a lightbulb, a television and a microwave for, in minutes.
The list is pretty long and includes all sorts, from cans of varying sizes, to bottles and even the tube from the toilet roll. However it is far from complete and unfortunately doesn’t even allow the user to add any custom items to the list that they might have recycled.
Still, the major recyclable options are there and just take a click to be added to the list, showing the results instantly. In this way it’s very simple to use and takes almost no time for one to begin seeing the impact their recycling has and how they’re benefiting the planet in terms of combating energy consumption.
Another restriction however is that it doesn’t convey the materials saved either, nor does it express whether the energy saved is from simply remaking the product or also if it includes the energy saved from acquiring and transporting the materials too. In this way it’s hard to judge what the numbers are actually based on. Although additional information is given in terms of how much energy the UK would save if everybody recycled the same things over a year.
Below the Recyclometer one can find some flash cards giving some short facts about each of the materials recycled and also links to the ‘WRAP’ website that Coca-Cola have partnered up with in order to produce the Recyclometer. Further down tips can be found about recycling and below this more information regarding the Recyclometer itself.
Overall it seems to be an interesting tool in order to see how much energy one can save, however it doesn’t give any indicator of whether more could be done or if the user is actually recycling well in comparison to other users or for their areas standards. Regardless, it’s worth a look if you are conscious about recycling and wish to see the benefits of doing so.
By Benjamin Rushton
