App designed to boost recycling in Uruguay

Two organizations in Uruguay have worked together to create a free app for mobile devices designed to show where things can be dropped off for recycling. The not-for-profit organizations Compromiso Empresarial para la Reciclaje (CEMPRE) and DATA Uruguay have created “Donde Reciclijo UY” for the Android and IOS operating systems and for Web browsers.

An online article by the Montevideo, Uruguay-based El Observador says in that city alone, about 1,200 tons of municipal solid waste is generated each day. The newspaper also says the percentage of that material currently diverted and sorted for recycling “is minimal.”

The new Donde Reciclijo UY app is described as providing “access to a geolocalized map where the user can see the different types of [collection containers and what can be deposited in each one.” The app covers the entire nation and allows users to search by the type of material they want to recycle.

CEMPRE Executive Director Federico Baráibar is quoted as saying that although there are thousands of containers devoted to recycling in Uruguay, they are underutilized and often material collected “arrives mixed, and the plants destined to process them work four times below their potential.”

Among the materials for which collection bins or centers have been mapped are plastic, paper, metal and glass packaging, cartons, batteries, clothing and motor oil.

Materials the app considers undesirable in collection containers include toilet paper, diapers and damp cloths, hand and sanitary towels, ceramics, bones and cigarette butts.