Veolia's RECAPP 2.0 now available, makes recycling experience in UAE more user-friendly and rewarding

• Advanced version of the app is more ergonomic, giving users the ability to track and measure how their recycling efforts are positively impacting the environment
• Gives users interactive and valuable perspective of how much waste they have recycled over time and compares it with the amount of CO2 reduced in the environment

RECAPP, Veolia’s digital recycling solution for individuals and businesses, has released a new version of its mobile application offering a suite of features that benefits both individuals as well as the environment.

Aimed to raise environmental consciousness among individuals, the advanced version of the app is more ergonomic, giving users the ability to track and measure how their recycling efforts are positively impacting the environment. RECAPP 2.0 does so by providing users with an interactive and valuable perspective of how much waste they have recycled over time and comparing it with the amount of CO2 reduced in the environment.

The new version has also introduced additional categories to its reward marketplace feature that offers redeemable points for recycled items. The categories include food and beverages, beauty, home, fashion, lifestyle, health & fitness, and charity.   

In addition, the app, which continues to offer free-of-charge services to collect recyclables from the doorsteps of households, has also introduced an optional premium service at 39 AED per month. This upgrade gives users access to attractive features such as priority collection, an option to recycle paper, double reward points, and two free recycling boxes. 

Jérôme Viricel, General Manager of RECAPP at Veolia Near & Middle East, said: “As we observe the Year of Sustainability in the UAE and the country heading to host the 28th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 28) to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), we are delighted to release RECAPP 2.0 to further boost the recycling culture in the United Arab Emirates and make the overall experience more user-friendly, sustainable and rewarding. The services offered by RECAPP 2.0 will play an important role in generating public awareness on the importance and impact of recycling, while providing individuals and households with user-friendly tools to responsibly dispose of their waste. With updated features in the app, we are giving users more incentive to join the journey toward sustainability along with the opportunity to monitor how their efforts are making ripple effects on our environment.”

RECAPP was launched by Veolia Near & Middle East, the benchmark company for ecological transformation, in November 2020 as the first recycling app in the UAE. It has now transformed into a holistic digital recycling solution for individuals and businesses, employing third-party carriers to collect several categories of small waste streams that are often poorly managed.

After just 2 years, RECAPP by Veolia has grown into a community of 52,000 users, collecting more than 813 tonnes of recyclables including 29 million plastic bottles, 1.4 million cans, 1.2 million tins, and 1 million plastic trays. RECAPP by Veolia has also rewarded users with 35,200 vouchers, built a portfolio of 18 reward partners, and helped reduce CO2 emissions by 1,713 tonnes.

Last November, RECAPP by Veolia launched GoRECAPP.com, the first B2B digital recycling platform in the UAE, which enables businesses to deploy recycling boxes on their premises. The platform already works with 50 offices and 56 schools across the UAE, bringing seamless recycling solutions to brands and companies, and helping raise sustainability awareness among students. The B2B platform now offers all types of companies the option to order the recycling solution online through an easy deliver-collect-recycle feature.

RECAPP 2.0 and GoRECAPP.com contribute to the UAE’s broader vision for environmental sustainability, including the UAE Circular Economy Policy (2021-2031), whose objectives include promoting a circular economy and sustainable consumption and production patterns that reduce environmental stress and meet basic needs.