MyPlasticDiary has won £50k from Innovate UK in a funding competition focused on designing sustainable plastics solutions.
The sustainability start-up’s mission is to make plastic footprint information available to everyone. After successfully launching in August 2020, the MyPlasticDiary plastic footprint app has been downloaded over 2,000 times by users from the UK and US to Poland and Norway.
The team aims to use the grant from the Plastic Research and Innovation Fund to take their concept one step further and design a service that incorporates consumers’ plastic footprint into their online shopping behaviour.
With supermarkets coming under increased pressure from consumers around plastic packaging, MyPlasticDiary hope their service design will put consumers in the driving seat and allow them to make more sustainable online shopping choices.
If we can reward people for positive behaviour shifts and encourage supermarkets to offer more plastic free choice, we are stepping on to a better and more sustainable road to a future that protects nature
Alex Zilber, founder of MyPlasticDiary says: “We hope that one day people will know their plastic footprint just like they know their calorie consumption or their exercise stats. We are excited about winning the Innovate UK grant and about the opportunity it gives us to develop our “The Fitbit for Plastic” idea and to contribute to the sustainability revolution that is gathering momentum in hearts and minds.”
The ambitious startup has garnered support from many active participants of the sustainability market, including Less Plastic UK, A Plastic Planet and Plastic Oceans.
Sian Sutherland, the serial entrepreneur and A Plastic Planet co-founder, mentions: “Technology will undoubtably play a major part in the fight to reduce plastic so we applaud this innovative and ambitious young team.
“If we can reward people for positive behaviour shifts and encourage supermarkets to offer more plastic free choice, we are stepping on to a better and more sustainable road to a future that protects nature.”