A new quick response code based program informs people about local systems for ensuring products don’t end in landfills.
A program called Recycle now has implemented a new system that uses different types of barcodes, such as UPC and QR codes, in order to give people the opportunity to scan them and discover more information with regards to the proper disposal of a certain product or package, within their local area.
Scanning the quick response code brings about the product’s name, picture, and description.
To use the QR codes, the consumer simply needs to use a smartphone or tablet to scan the barcode. Below the information and picture of a given item, there is a button that says “Recycle Now” on it. After clicking it, the app will then ask the user to enter his or her zip code or location, so that the app results can be customized to the local recycling program information for that individual.
In this way, a simple scan of QR codes conducts a local area program search based on the specific product materials.
The app then offers the user the three closest results for any given material in the product for which the QRcode was scanned. Each of those results offers the consumer a link that will give him or her more details about that listing, including a map to make it easier for the user to actually make their way to that specific location.
Recycle Now has applied the data from the biggest and most accurate directory geared toward recycling, in the entire country. This is the only program of this nature and hosts 1.6 million different ways to be able to recycle around 350 different materials. This is also the first time that barcodes have been used in this way in order to be able to discover local recycling. No other service provider in the United States has taken this step.
This new offering has been designed to reduce or eliminate the confusion that is associated with recycling various different products and materials that are common in today’s marketplace. The hope is that it will assist brands and consumers, alike, in improving sustainability and end-of-life issues with regards to the products that they produce and purchase.