An estimated 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation (more than 35% of the world's population). According to the World Health Organization and UNICEF, regions with the lowest coverage of “improved” sanitation in 2006 were sub-Saharan Africa (31%), Southern Asia (33%) and Eastern Asia (65%). In sub-Saharan Africa today, less than 10% of the total waste generated by citizens in major cities is collected by municipal waste management services. In low-income, underserved communities, uncollected waste is burnt, buried or dumped in water and sewer lines, causing perennial floods, damage to property, and the spread of malaria and deadly water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid.
Price and quality of materials are major concerns for waste collectors and buyers.
Waste collectors spend too much time and money separating, cleaning, and transferring waste.
No easy way exists to access separated waste materials or find buyers at source.
Recyclebot is developing a peer-to-peer waste recycling system to help consumers, waste managers, and manufacturers extract value from solid waste at source rather than landfills, with ease and speed.
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