Plastiks project

The ocean is full of it: plastic. This is a problem that won't be solved overnight. Many companies and individuals decide to do something about it. The blockchain sector is also doing its bit here. So does the Plastiks project.

What is Plastiks?

The goal of Plastiks is to connect producers with companies that recycle plastics. By doing so, Plastiks wants to ensure that plastics can be sustainably made and recycled.

Plastiks offers a marketplace running entirely on blockchain where products from Single Use Plastic, SUP, and recycling companies can come together. SUP is plastic that can only be used once. Think of it as packaging material.

Companies that recycle plastic can sell proof of recycling as NFT on the Plastiks marketplace. This creates more revenue for this recycling company giving them more financial room to recycle even more plastic. After all, recycling is expensive and not easy.

This marketplace can also count as marketing for the SUP companies. They can use it to show that they are doing their part to make the world more sustainable. After all, they buy NFT from the recycling companies.

Governments around the world are working to combat plastic waste too. There are also laws already in the works that will require SUP companies to offset or recycle their plastic production. Through the Plastiks marketplace, such SUP companies can meet the obligations by purchasing NFT (i.e., proof of recycling) and thus support recycling companies.

How does Plastiks work?

Plastiks is a marketplace that runs on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC). So it is similar to marketplaces like Opensea.io where NFT can be bought and sold. With Plastiks, as an SUP company, you don't buy digital (art) works, but recycling proofs.

Producer of plastic
A SUP company that wants to support a recycling company by buying NFT needs a wallet that contains Plastiks tokens. These can be used to purchase NFT.

When a SUP company buys an NFT, what are they actually buying? A digital recycling receipt still sounds a bit abstract. Are you just buying code? The SUP is buying, as it were, a contract that confirms that the SUP has recycled a certain type and amount of plastic. Because these conditions are captured in the smart contract and then locked into the blockchain, this SUP can prove that it has actually supported a recycling company. The blockchain stores what type of plastic was recycled, what quantities, when, how, etc.

Recycler of plastic
In addition to SUP companies, there are also recycling companies on the marketplace. These recycling companies can make NFT mines (NFT making) that serve as proof of recycling. These recycling companies then write a code (smart contract) that includes the amount of plastic recycled, time of recycling, etc. The recycling companies then see the platform as an additional source of income. All they have to do is upload/print proof that they have recycled plastic (such as an invoice or certificate) and sell it as NFT. If a SUP is interested in this NFT, the SUP can buy it. The recycling company can use this money to improve the recycling process. Pretty cool!

Plastic and the blockchain innovation
By allowing companies to improve/contribute to the recycling process through an NFT marketplace, companies are transparent about how they handle recycling. This is because the proof of recycling is on the blockchain and can be seen by anyone. Currently, this process is not transparent at all. Consumers can quickly see which company is actually doing recycling and what they are effectively doing to process, collect and recycle plastic.

But companies still put in their website and mission statement that they do reclycling or support those companies. So why blockchain?

As mentioned above, there is absolutely no transparency for consumers as to whether companies actually support recycling companies or do recycling themselves. Because the information regarding processing, collection, etc. is stored in smart contracts (and thus on the blockchain), anyone can see this information. After all, the blockchain is transparent.

On the other hand, recyclers can indicate whether a company has also had plastic recycled with them. They can then store this in a smart contract and then make it visible through the blockchain. If a SUP does buy an NFT but does not actually have it recycled by the company, this is also visible to everyone. This is because the recycling company does not have a smart contract in which this is confirmed. So it works both ways. Only when both parties confirm this in a smart contract/blockchain has there been a valid recycling operation.

Consumers increasingly demand that companies have sustainability in their agenda. This Plastic Marketplace is one way of encouraging recycling. Given that it is also completely transparent, this is also a good marketing tool.

The success of Plastiks - as with other crypto and blockchain companies - lies with the community that supports this project. If as many people and companies as possible know about this project, the more likely it is that companies will make use of it. If companies do not use this, then the success of Plastiks is also low. As sustainability becomes more and more important and blockchain becomes more and more known to the public, I see a lot of potential in Plastiks.

Pros and cons of Plastiks