With the help of blockchain technology, the Norwegian company Empower will solve two world problems; poverty and plastic waste. Empower have developed something like a global pawn shop for plastic waste, that will help clean up plastic in the ocean and help people out of poverty.
The idea is that we engage people living in poverty to collect plastic for profit. We see that pollution is a major problem and especially in developing countries. The plastic ends up in the ocean and is driven away by the current, says Wilhelm Myrer, the CEO of Empower.
Surveys from the UN show that around 765 million people live below the poverty line today. In order to be able to combat poverty, the United Nations must achieve economic growth that is inclusive and evenly divided between countries and populations.
Untapped working resources
Empower aims to make use of the labor force found in these developing countries. With so many people living at $ 1.90 a day, the need to make an extra income is big.
Using an app on your smartphone, you will be paid with tokens, which you can switch to other currencies. If you collect ten kilos of plastic and deliver this for recycling, you will receive 10 tokens, by scanning a qr code, says Myrer.
For this to work, you must have a smartphone and the Empower app.
Blockchain solves problems
By using blockchain technology, Empower's goal is to launch an app that can leverage global payments, to reward people for cleaning plastic waste. Myrer points out several advantages of the technology, such as that the results are highly measurable.
Blockchain makes it easy to track provenance of an item. The goal is that you can follow the plastic that is picked up to the finished product. When the product comes for sale, for example in the form of a plastic bottle, one can see where the plastic comes from, he says.
Blockchain technology has been a hot topic in the last year. Several companies around the world have thrown themselves on the blockchain revolution and is now looking at the possibilities behind the technology. Myrer say Empower is using blockchain technology, because it allows for transferring small values across borders without having to go through a banking system.
We are probably not following the typical blockchain business model recipe as it is today, but this is about using blockchain as a tool to do something good for society, he says.
When we meet with larger companies, we often get the question, "why blockchain"? He says that some companies is skeptical at first and does not fully understand why they are using blockchain.
When we explain all the good qualities and what can be achieved by making use of blockchains, then most companies are positively surprised. Removing the bank as an intermediary allows small transactions to go faster without cost, he explains.
Huge focus on plastic
Each year, about 6.4 million tonnes of waste will spill into the world's oceans. Between 70 and 80 percent of this is plastic. The plastic does not decompose and therefore remains in the water until someone picks it up. This is taking a heavy toll on sea life and it is expected that the plastic becomes the world's biggest environmental problem if there are no changes. Norwegian media have written numerous of articles about the problem and they have produced television documentary series about plastic.
We have received a lot of attention lately. Everyone is aware that this is a problem and that it must be resolved. We notice that both individuals and businesses want to engage. It is important that there is a great deal of focus on this in Norway, but we see that many other countries are also seeing the problem, he says.
Successful beach cleaning
On 22 April this year Empower tested its concept with a beach cleaning at Hoddevika in Norway. In collaboration with Nordic Ocean Watch, they cleared 120 kg of plastic waste from the beach.
With donations from private individuals who subscribed on our webpage, we managed to fund the cleanup. We paid people about one dollar per kilo of plastic waste cleaned. It was fun to see that it was possible to get private individuals to fund the cleanup and people to participate in the cleanup. Now we are looking forward to test it in other countries, he says enthusiastically.
Great commitment
The expectations for Empower in the future are high. They are now focusing on finding the right partners and refining app functionality. Myrer say that the team behind is very committed and they work around the clock for this to be a success.
Here we can do something good for the world, it's not just a normal for profit business, he says.
During the summer months of June and July, they are launching rehabilitation projects in Sri Lanka, India and West Africa.
It will be exciting when we get the test results and learned how it will work there. The experience we gain from this will be used to find more permanent solutions during the autumn, he concluded.
Kryptofinans believes that in a world of crypto where so many projects is either scam or a ponzischeme, the really good projects seem to be rare. Thus we think Empower is a fresh addition and a good example of how blockchain can make a difference for a better world.
We will use all the earnings of this post to clean plastic waste with the Empower system. So if you want to do a good thing for the world today, upvote this post or go directly to http://empower.eco and start a subscription yourself :)
Our next post will tell the story of another startup using blockchain to democratize access to scientific papers. Stay tuned for our interview with Anita Schjoll Brede from Aiur and Iris.ai!