Executive Summary 1. Overview & Report Aim The report traced the implementation of Green Ravolution’s recycling industry transformation strategy. Utilising the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS), the primary objectives were to design and implement a process that would incorporate technology to streamline and make recycling more efficient and impactful through the elimination of contamination and recycling costs, while introducing a more customer centric approach to motivate more participation from the domestic sector towards the activity of recycling to meet Singapore’s national goal of achieving a 30% domestic recycling rate by 2030. 2. Outline of Processes and Planning Stage Soon after taking over the operations of a recyclable collection site, the Green Ravolution team soon realized that to be competitive and to gain an advantage within the industry, market volatility issues, regulatory compliance issues and household participation issues would need to be addressed through a radical transformation of the process flow through which waste travels. The GR team developed a strategy that would reduce costs and drive recycler utility up to create value innovation. 3. Outline initial implementation With a strategy outlined and process drawn to achieve the set goals, the technology to achieve the goals was outsourced to a software development team. The software platform was launched in March 2020, however limitations to the software’s use were caused due to restrictions implemented by government at a time when the covid-19 pandemic was spreading rapidly. 4. Outline of findings and challenges faced After initial launch, challenges were faced in the onboarding process of strategic partners. User numbers thus were impacted due to the lack of choices for reward redemptions after a recycling transaction had been completed. Merchant partners found the process of uploading of vouchers and discounts particularly cumbersome. The onboarding of the informal waste collectors to collect recyclables from households also proved to be a challenge due to the resistance and a lack of trust for transparency within the recycling industry. Because of these two major issues and the ongoing pandemic, recyclable volumes were hugely affected. 5. Summary of results The onboarding of merchants to offer rewards for recyclers is a driving catalyst in influencing recycling behavior in Singapore. In identifying the challenges faced in onboarding merchants, Green Ravolution reassessed the execution of the strategy and the operating environment to ensure the right changes necessary to ensure that more merchants can easily onboard and upload discounts and vouchers are made. 6. Outline of predicted results In theory, by engaging households through digital technology, to drive recycling rates up, Singapore can achieve its target of attaining a 30% recycling rate by 2030. Green Ravolution will play a leading role through the utilisation of the informal waste collectors as a readily available resource to channel their collections through the digital platform. This can also help to make the industry more transparent and trustworthy with the collection of data on the recyclable collection effort of the informal waste collectors.
