The call to action serves as the basis for MDIA’s fifth Public Innovation Challenge, which aims to divert waste from county landfills, educate and engage residents on recycling and reuse efforts, increase participation in waste diversion efforts, and reduce recycling contamination. The challenge involves the Department of Solid Waste Management (DSWM).
“Solutions should be ready to be implemented in a pilot setting and should be scalable to ultimately meet the growing needs of DSWM,” MDIA’s website states.
Examples of solutions include:
- Platforms that connect residents to recycling resources and solutions that offer educational tools about what materials are recyclable, how residents can reduce waste stream contamination and how residents can reuse certain materials
- Technologies that show residents how to sort their waste, along with applications that help residents identify recyclable materials and incentivize them to manage household waste streams
- Analytics platforms that help DSWM and residents understand where waste is going and optimize on-site waste diversion operations
- Waste diversion management solutions that divert organic waste from county landfills