Artificial intelligence powers a start-up's reverse vending machines
RECYCLING is not an alien concept among Malaysians, but very few actually do it.
Armed with a mission to boost the recycling rate in the country, Klean, a start-up founded by Datuk Dr Nicholas Boden, and his team, has come up a unique reverse vending machine (RVM) that accepts used and empty polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and aluminium cans in exchange for rewards.
DISRUPTING WASTE INDUSTRY
Boden, who is from South Africa, has been living in Malaysia for more than 15 years. He acknowledged that the RVM incentivisation concept is not new.
He said many developed countries have adopted the scheme and this is often part of their government's initiative to encourage their citizens to recycle because, according to Boden, educating people on the importance of recycling alone is not enough.
"People need to be incentivised to ensure behavioural change," said Boden.
In this case, Klean's unique reward system is the answer. Seeking to disrupt the plastic waste sector in Malaysia, the Klean team adopts the incentivisation formula because according to them, it is one of the most effective ways to do it.
Klean, according to Boden, wants its project to have a significant social impact. "We want to create a sustainable business that has a large impact on poor people. But it is also completely okay for people who have money to participate.
"... and incentivisation of recycling encourages recycling rates in countries that have a similar scheme. We also want to make sure that we are not encouraging bad habits by rewarding recyclers with coins, especially in low-income communities, as it could potentially bring out different social-related problems in the longer run," explained Boden.
ALTERNATIVE REWARD
Klean rewards recyclers with digital currency.
But digital currency is not the only technology Klean's RVMs are equipped with. Its machines are also furnished with artificial intelligence (AI) backed-chutes with a significant machine learning mechanism, allowing each machine to automatically identify types of material and sort them into separate bins.
Adopting the drop-box concept, the Klean machines allow users to insert PET containers, which will be scanned and identified before they are processed and crushed.
The machine allows users to collect points, also known as Kleans (100 Kleans = RM1), which are reflected in the digital wallet on its mobile app. The points can be used to purchase goods and services such as mobile airtime, smartcard credit (such as Touch 'n Go), nano gold, food vouchers and other discount vouchers from its partners.
"Not only that, they (the machines) can identify the types of containers you put in. They can also identify the brands based on the label and shape of the containers you deposited," explained Boden excitedly as he shared what the Klean machines are capable of.
On the back-end, RVMs track and collect data in real time.
"It collects and summarises reports via the Klean dashboard. The reports contain key information collected by the machine like total containers deposited, the types, brands, recycler profile, times and machine alerts," said Boden, adding that the types of information Klean's AI-driven RVMs collect are useful, especially for corporates for Corporate Social Responsibility reporting, retailer container recovery data as well as data monetisation channels such as activation-based advertisements.
Boden shared Coca-Cola's pledge of recycling every used bottle the company sells by 2030. It may be hard to track on a global scale, but Klean's machines can provide useful information on the progress of such sustainability initiatives wherever the machine is available.
THE VENDING MACHINE
Klean has two types of RVM — the Maxi Prime and Maxi Basic. The Maxi Prime is its top-of-the-range machine with 49-inch LED panels on the side, a 32-inch front touch panel and, of course, an AI-enabled chute for container recognition. The Maxi Basic, on the other hand, is an entry-level machine that comes with a 32-inch front touch panel and AI-enabled chute for container recognition.
Everything about Klean machines is Malaysian-owned.
"The RVM, digital wallet and app are Malaysian designs and intellectual property, owned by a local technology start-up, which is rare," said Boden proudly.
"We design and produce the machines instead of buying them from elsewhere. We are fully aware of Malaysians' capability and talent, and we're proud and confident of Malaysian-made products," he said.
Klean's factory is located in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, and the machines are made to order and not mass produced; a more sustainable business model in the current situation. It is also adopting a leasing model to ensure that the machines remain operational after production.
The machine takes mainly PET, the plastic most commonly used to make bottles — enabling a crucial first step in the circular economy for plastic, separation at source — which the company is diverting away from landfills and oceans.
Today, there are more than 50 Klean machines available in four countries — Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Fiji.
In 2018, the initiative won the Asean Pitch@Palace event along with 20 other start-ups from around the world. In 2019, the Klean initiative won a United Nations Capital Development Fund's Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme grant to bring the solution to Fiji, where people get macro-healthcare insurance in exchange for recycling PET.
HOW IT STARTED
The initial idea started from a small local CSR initiative. It turned global after a devastating earthquake hit Nepal in 2018, and finally evolved into what it is today.
Boden is a chiropractor who has been treating spine and joint problems in Malaysia for years. He said one of the things he commonly sees is flatfoot. So he invested in 3D printers, which could make customised insoles.
"Then we wanted to get involved in some form of CSR programme because as our 3D printing of insoles business picked up, we still had some capacity left on our printer. Using an open-source software, we made prosthetic arms.
"So we started the Lend-a-hand website, where people could donate these 3D-printed arms to needy recipients," he continued.
According to Boden, during the Nepal earthquake, the site launched an initiative and they received so many inquiries that they launched another initiative for locals to contribute PET bottles, which then turned into filaments, to be used as an alternative to purchasing to reduce costs.
"People got wind of what we were doing and started to drop off plastic bottles at our clinic. Suddenly, we had hundreds of bottles that we did not really know what to do with," he said, which led to the creation of Klean.
CHALLENGES
"One of our biggest challenges with the business model is the collection of materials. We collect and crush them on-site in our machines so that we can collect larger volumes.
"But when they are full, someone has to empty them," said Boden.
He wondered whether waste separation initiatives ended up with materials actually recycled or entering landfills.
He said waste management hasn't been a high priority for Covid-19 relief efforts, and "a lot of our plans have been put on hold (for Klean), including outside of Malaysia".
Though Covid-19 has slowed its progress, the reverse vending machine start-up believes that its model is primed to take off.
"During the lockdown, we totally slowed our activities. In Fiji, we have to train the locals to operate the machines, which can be challenging to do over Zoom calls.
"Something that would have taken two weeks now takes six months, but I suppose tough times like these mean we can really put our technology to the test," said Boden, adding that if they were able to implement what they did in Fiji, it being so far away, "...we certainly learnt a lot from the experience".
"We hope to have a vast network of machines — not just in Malaysia. We are still looking for new partners to come on board. We are also working on the back-end integration and actively looking for ways to expand the project," he concluded.
