EcoPlastic

This blog post was written by Dev Katyal, a 2024 EarthEcho Marine Plastics Ambassador.

On average, a university student uses up to 300 single-use plastic items per year, which is much more than the average canadian. Only about 10% of this is recycled with the remainder ending up in landfills, incinerators, or polluting the environment. I knew there had to be a better solution, so I used my expertise in software and AI, along with my passion for environmental conservation, to build a one-of-a-kind solution. I created EcoPlastic, an app that uses AI to promote recycling.

 EcoPlastic is a mobile app designed to reduce plastic pollution in Ottawa using AI technology.
 EcoPlastic is a mobile app designed to reduce plastic pollution in Ottawa using AI technology.

After interviewing 50+ UWaterloo students, I learned they simply don’t know what to recycle, and thus default to putting everything in the trash. On top of this, those who do know still tend to put plastic materials in the trash since they have no incentive to recycle.

 Many UWaterloo students don’t know what to recycle. The Ecoplastic app is changing that.
 Many UWaterloo students don’t know what to recycle. The Ecoplastic app is changing that.

This led me to create an app that rewards people to recycle. For each scan, the user earns coins. Once the user has earned enough coins, they can choose from a variety of eco-friendly rewards, such as 100 coins for a waste collection kit or 500 coins to plant a local tree. The best part is, all this progress is tracked and connected to Amazon. All I need to do is approve the reward, and the prize goes straight to the user’s address.

EcoPlastic engaged people through an in-person campus presentation where 50 people ranging from students to staff showed up to hear me pitch my project. EcoPlastic also was directly tested by over 75 students, and ended up reaching 850 Instagram followers. Here are some of the impact that the EcoPlastic project has had:

  • Engaged a total of 150 people in-person through app presentation and testing
  • Prevented 500 real-world instances of plastic pollution through app use
  • Reached 850 followers on Instagram, and was also invited to an interview with CTV next April, focusing on EcoPlastic and the work I am doing with EarthEcho.

EcoPlastic was overall a great experience, it taught me how tech is a tool for environmental change, and ignited my passion for computer science. People were really impressed with my idea, and building my own app as a solo developer. In the future, I also want to add the app to ios since it is only available on Android. EcoPlastic really made me understand the essence of the marine plastic ambassador program. Some people are artistic, while others are great at music. I used my unique strengths to help prevent plastic pollution across North America which is what makes this project so special.

 For his efforts, Dev has been awarded the RBC 21 Under 21 Award and National Youth Climate Activism Award. The EcoPlastic app also came in first place in the WUSA Change Engine Competition (pictured here).
 For his efforts, Dev has been awarded the RBC 21 Under 21 Award and National Youth Climate Activism Award. The EcoPlastic app also came in first place in the WUSA Change Engine Competition (pictured here).

Even after the EarthEcho Marine Plastic Ambassador program, I want to keep scaling EcoPlastic and I want to reach 500 users by the end of 2025, and also get to 1K instagram followers by the end of March. Overall, the EarthEcho Marine Plastic Ambassador program allowed me to meet some amazing people, from pitching my app and winning 1st place in a competition, to testing my app with students, this experience was rewarding and unforgettable. Check out more @ecoplasticapp. 

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