Instead of serving drinks and snacks, special machines in Chinese cities are taking in plastic waste and dispensing circularity. These smart bins, which can also be found on sidewalks in the communities in both Chengdu and Xi’an, accept recyclable waste, and reward those who use them with credits on the nation’s popular WeChat app.

Building on LOVERE’s model to place smart bins across several districts in the dynamic city of Shanghai, the goal is to more than double recycling rates in Chengdu and Xi’an from 15% to 35%.

Since November 2021, enviro-tech company LOVERE has installed almost 1,400 of these smart bins across both cities with support from the Alliance. Like most reverse vending machines, these smart bins are easy to use and are available 24/7. While the initial plan in 2021 was to install 3,000 smart bins in strategic points, mostly in the residential districts, China’s Zero Covid policy in 2022 put the project on pause. Installations resumed in February 2023, and the ramp up to achieve the target continues.

Supported by artificial intelligence, the smart bins differentiate recyclable materials from non-recyclable ones. Cameras installed within each bin work as the eye that feeds information back to object recognition software – consumers who deposit paper, metal, textiles, and plastics will be rewarded, but not those who leave behind non-recyclables. An internal sensor sends a signal when it’s time to activate the in-built compactor, and once the bins are 80% full, LOVERE’s collectors are mobilised to retrieve the contents. Big green bags holding collected waste are then brought to transfer stations across the cities, or directly to one of LOVERE’s material recovery facilities.

There, recyclables are separated into as many as 72 individual streams, before they are sold to recycling companies. Operations at Chengdu’s newly constructed sorting centre started late last year, while the setup for a similar facility in Xi’an is underway.

So far, 3,400 tonnes of plastic waste have been collected and sent to sorting centres from smart bins funded by the Alliance.

Recyclables from communities form just one part of what is collected. Commercial sources like office buildings, shopping malls, and other businesses collaborating with LOVERE are part of their collection ecosystem too.

The project falls under China’s “Internet Plus” initiative, which aims to build out digitally driven ecosystems for various industries. Its “Internet Plus Recycling” strategy uses technology to create new collection models that integrate recovery, collection, sorting, and distribution of recyclables.

LOVERE’s solution model works towards the same goal. Chengdu and Xi’an were chosen as expansion locations because of the high number of tourists and residents, leveraging economies of scale from uptake across a large population. At the same time, the local community is also being engaged through community education programmes that promote sustainable practices.

More smart bins are being installed across both cities alongside a growing network of customers for the various recyclable material streams that continues to grow within China and in neighbouring countries. LOVERE is also exploring tie-ups to turn the recyclables collected into high-value products, helping to not just build a circular economy, but to make recycled products “the new fashion”.