Plastic Coin

─ We would like to thank the Precious Plastic community for the inspiration as well as everybody else around the world making an effort to reduce their plastic consumption.
Please leave a comment below and if you like the idea, please share this post widely so we can attract the right people and make this happen. Lets end plastic pollution for good.
Thank you
Ali Alsarraf, Rodrigo Espinola, Toni Laderach
BioGnosis NPC & Sustainable Agro Tech Asia

Overview

We will apply blockchain technology to our plastic-economy strategy in order to give the plastic waste which is polluting our planet, an ever increasing value.
One of the key ideas will be to shift the perception of everyday people by redefining trash from being invaluable and useless to valuable and useful.
By doing so we will incentivize people to properly dispose or reuse this precious material, rather than produce more trash.
Goals

Create a Token backed by plastic waste.
Make the Plastic Coin Economy project scalable.
Allow everyone a fair chance to take part in this new economy.
Ensure a proper marketplace where the coin can be traded, increasing the value of the coin.
Improve local economies based on plastic collection and products.
Change people's perception of disposable valueless plastic.
Scope

8 million tonnes of plastic waste end in the ocean each year. Only 5 Countries produce 60% of the plastic pollution entering into the ocean, all of the countries are situated in Asia (China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand). The reason we decided to start the project in Thailand, is because alone, Thailand produces more than half of that pollution statistic. Most of this pollution (80%) comes from land based sources, of which 75% comes from litter or uncollected waste.
Our solution aims to improve the collection of plastic primarily in-house, connecting collectors and miners through blockchain technology and incentivising every part of the chain with tokens. However, it does not end there. All the material collected will be treated at our MUCU’s (Mobile Up-Cycling Units) to add value to that material and create more opportunities for the local communities.
Key Challenges

Actual plastic collection is very low (about 14%) and tends to focus only on expensive and selective materials.
Plastic collectors rely on their findings, exposing themselves to hazards related to plastic collection.
Plastic waste producers’ (Consumers) lack the infrastructure to dispose of their plastics as well as a lack of incentives for the consumer to minimize their consumption.
People's perception of disposing and the conveniences related to one-use plastic packaging.

Specifications

Using Blockchain Technology to add a flux value to plastic waste as well as being able to trace the material around the world to assist in creating a circular economy. There is an estimated value of 6.8 Billion tons of plastic waste polluting our planet. A precious resource that one day will run out, and it's value will increase. In this current day very few well developed countries have capitalized on the possible monetary value of plastic waste (bio waste is also a possible interest). The equation isn't clear yet but the possibilities are apparent!
The Plastic consumption Formula

We have a formula which will increase the value of plastic while encouraging the reduction of plastic consumption per individual and/or organization.
This formula is the key to creating a successful plastic incentivised economy as it not only allows us to add value to the abundant resource, but also encourages people to use less plastic by ‘scoring’ participants on their ‘Plastic awareness’. The higher the individual score the better and the more they will earn…this will encourage participants to earn more (capture more) and use less.
This is important because if captured trash out values virgin trash, people may produce virgin plastic just to sell on the captured market… We must be able to verify some kind of timestamp on the plastic… It is difficult to do and that’s why we thought it best to create a formula which incentivises the reduction of virgin plastic production...
Perhaps it should be fair for people who are using less and making conscious decisions about their consumption, to have the same opportunity to earn coins as those people who collect trash but don’t have as good of a score… People who don’t like to collect but like to contribute to the cause will also be able to earn plastic coins.
We will collect this data from the plastic coin app and use the blockchain to verify the data.
People may be required to submit a form, testing them on their awareness which will give them an initial score. The more the people understand about plastic the higher their ‘P’ value will be.
The results from this formula could be used in our valuation of the currency.
Programmers and early adopting community members should have fun with this in order to grow the idea.

The MUCU & Application Operation

The Mobile Up-Cycle Unit (MUCU) & Application will be our main pistons, our engine for growth will be accessibility and operational sustainability.
Plastic collection.
Material sorting and preparation for WIP (Work In Progress)
Product creation and experimentation.
Data collection.
The MUCU operation will reveal more than just the points mentioned.
There will be an iOS/Android application that will allow accessibility for everyone that wants to collect or mine the plastic, while maintaining a live feed database via the application: Where the plastic is coming from, where it's going, how much is being processed, etc.
“trashbay.com” like online stores

An online store(s) where the Plastic Coin can be traded. All transactions will therefore play a role in the credibility and value of the Coin. All the products made from collected recycled and/or upcycled plastic adding value to the coin and overall operation can be sold from this website. At first impression this facet of the operation might not seem as important, but for long term sustainability, the ability to create high end sellable products will be as crucial as collecting the plastic.

Milestones

1.Create the Plastic Coin Team

This will have to be comprised of separate stand alone teams. Precious Plastic an open source that has devised a MUCU will be contacted and asked to join amongst other organizations. Possible creations of new organizations may be necessary, for example if there is no access to a working application then a team must be hired. Nonetheless, a Thailand based MUCU and application team will be necessary and will have to work in accordance with other teams from different countries.
Proposed organizations to contact:
*Biognosis NPC South Africa
*Precious Plastic
*LykKe
*Thailand Ministry of Commerce
*Reciclapp Team from Chile/Thailand
*SATA Thailand

Once the initial team is established a ‘RUNWAY’ and budget plan will be drawn out.
2.Finding Funds
After the team is created we will ask for Funds from the UN, WIF, or Privates, etc. An amount to fund the RUNWAY of the Pilot Project.
3.Pilot project
With the first funding resources, we will run a pilot project that will include all the key partners working together as well as early adopters for the technology. The first MVP (Minimum Viable Product) will be released during this period and might be improved with a lean process till completion.
4.Crowdfunding Campaign & Survey
Once we conclude our pilot project successfully, we will be able to scale the project to larger operations.