Southeast Asian Fintech company HelloGold and reverse vending machine (RVM) installer KLEAN announced on Monday a new recycling scheme that allows Malaysians to earn 0.00059 grams of gold for every plastic bottle and aluminium can recycled in a KLEAN RVM. The two firms seek to change the economic and environmental decision-making process in many Asian locales, where countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam rank among the top 10 contributors of ocean-bound plastic pollution.
CEO and Co-founder of HelloGold Robin Lee said, in a statement, “Emerging economies across Asia are dealing with increasing plastic use and consumption. Without adequate recycling infrastructure or habits in place, these plastics end up in landfills and oceans destroying the environment. HelloGold’s partnership with KLEAN will incentivise people to clean up the environment while accessing new financial products such as gold. In our mission to enable everyone access to safe and affordable gold products to protect their savings, HelloGold has been expanding our reach to millions of online and offline communities through key partnerships such as Axiata’s Boost and Aeon Credit. Our latest partnership with KLEAN reflects our shared values in using innovative technology to enable financial inclusion and wealth creation for the man on the street.”
Users can register for a HelloGold account using the company’s mobile application or any of the 500 KLEAN RVMs planned to be installed across Malaysia before the end of 2018.
KLEAN CEO Nick Boden stated, “Plastic waste is increasing around the world, yet recycling rates remain low. Through this partnership, we aim to encourage greater recycling by showing Malaysians the potential wealth and money that lies around our communities, in our landfills and [floating] in our oceans. After launching in Malaysia, we see great potential to expand our offering to other countries such as Singapore and South Africa. In countries such as South Africa, plastic scavenging is often the main source of income for families who must sell their plastic within an informal economy that is dominated by middlemen with high fees. Enabling these families to directly access virtual currency or gold at KLEAN’s reverse vending machines will allow for a safer and more stable economic livelihood.”
To learn more about HelloGold, visit https://www.hellogold.com/.
