An app to tackle gaps in recycling knowledge

Victorian smartphone users will soon have access to reliable information on how to recycle locally, with the Sustain Me mobile application set to launch on 29 July. The app has been designed to tackle information gaps relating to recycling across Victoria and supporting councils to reduce waste sent to landfill.

The app was conceived as the winning entry in a 2013 competition called the Oxfam-Monash Innovators. Tasked with the objective of involving young people in a social issue, students Stephen Halpin and Eleanor Meyer chose the issues of recycling and sustainable living, with a mobile app as the platform for communication and engagement.

“Did you know that if you put recyclable items in a plastic bag and that bag in your recycling bin, that stuff’s not actually recycled?” said Meyer, explaining that while young, socially aware people are interested in recycling, they can become trapped in incorrect habits or behaviours when they are not aware of better ways to act.

“People need accessible information about recycling in a convenient manner, because right now, there is no easy way of knowing this stuff.”

Oxfam-Monash Innovators came with some grant money to construct the start-up enterprise Sustain Me Group, and Halpin and Meyer began developing a prototype app and involving the help of local councils. With endorsements from the Metro Waste Regional Resource Group, Sustainability Victoria, The Mornington Peninsula Shire and Moonee Valley, the app is now ready to launch.

The app tells its user how to simply and efficiently recycle whichever item they wish to dispose of, specific to the user’s relative council’s guidelines. Meyer and Halpin hope that every possible disposable item is eventually categorised and listed in the app with specific instructions on how to discard it, while prioritising recycling information to help the community live more sustainably.

The app also features waste management information for each municipality, including the location of recycling centres; direct updates from the council; restrictions for the contents of recycling and landfill street bins; and reminders about when to put them out for bin night.

The free app will launch on 29 July on the iOS App Store and Android’s Play Store; however, interested users can preregister at www.sustainme.com.au to receive the app as soon as it is released.