Abstract:
Each morning, the Dhaka city is awakened by an old but unstoppable issue of plastic waste overflowing out of the drainage systems, blockages of the canals, and floating in the overcrowded streets. Today Bangladesh produces almost 1700 tons of plastic waste daily, and in Dhaka alone, over 6,500 tonnes of waste is generated, and very little of this waste is actually recycled. What trickles down flows into rivers, exacerbates urban flooding, contributes to the emergence of a slow- burning crisis of the emission of greenhouse gases and the destruction of nature (World Bank, 2021; Haque, 2022). Amid this commotion, there is a silent set of laborers going around alleys and dumping areas. They are the informal rubbish collectors referred to as tokai or kabadiwallas in the neighborhood. They sort, pick and gather plastics discarded by other people with a single bag on their shoulders. Their labor is highly valued to the recycling economy yet no one can observe them. They earn some cash here and there and are exploited by middle men and made to bear the stigma of society. PETman was conceived at the intersection of a social outcast and an environmental crisis. PETman is not only a recycling center. It aims to become a social business as a result of which recycling plastic in Bangladesh will become easier and more technologically scrupulous. PETman connects households, informal collectors, recyclers, businesses, and NGOs with a mobile-based business that allows the process of disposing of trash to be more transparent, followable, and respectful. Correct recycling by households results in rewards, improved routes and higher income by collectors, and verified CSR and ESG data by businesses. PETman is not just another waste application that uses its profits to scale its impact. This is in accordance with the vision of social business developed by Professor Muhammad Yunus (2007; 2010; 2017) and the 3ZERO model (zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions).
