PolyToken: A Design Conjecture

For businesses, one of the critical barriers to recycling efforts is the cost of cleaning and sorting the many different plastic objects in circulation. That's what "PolyToken" aims to address; imagine a fun middle school program that incentivizes plastic collection through friendly competition. Each month, one specific RICs plastic is selected for all of the competing teams to collect. Individual students will receive one token for every half pound of plastic they collect during that month. At the end of the month, tokens can be exchanged for sweet treats, school supplies, or seasonal gear like hats, gloves, and scarfs. The team who collectively receives the most tokens will win a trip to a local zoo or aquarium.

The tokens are created with recycled plastic material, and pressed to bear the images of wildlife. Like snowflakes, no two tokens will be alike, leaving the possibility of students not redeeming their prizes in order to keep their unique token for sentimental value. The process is designed to mobilize local plastic waste out of disposal and into local schools. The collected, sorted plastic bundles can then be sold to waste management companies, which in turn funds the next PolyToken campaign.