Crowdsourcing reliable data about plastic waste

Wastebase DATA is the world's only platform to collect structured data about plastic waste.

Watch our public demo

Watch the recording of our recent public demo of the app. We go through the key features and benefits and respond to questions from participants.

If you're interested in a free demo or training session, email us at community @ unwaste.io

Visualise waste data

By demonstrating where their products end up in the environment, our data can help producers to understand the full lifecycle of the plastic-using products they design, make and sell.

Enhance brand audits

Local audits clean up specific areas. They also give our partners instant data to present to local decision-makers. This helps improve municipal waste collections to manage waste more efficiently, diverting ocean-bound plastic into the municipal solid waste (MSW) system.

Multiple data points

We connect multiple data points to each product. Our data is validated, robust and credible as evidence for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) initiatives and lifecycle analysis.

Inform your research

Our Wastebase DATA cloud platform connects a global network of individuals and organisations working towards a circular economy for plastic. Anyone can access, filter and extract Wastebase data to support their research, or use our app to speed up audits in their region.

Man crouched down. He is wearing a hi vis jacket and using a smartphone to scan a barcode on a plastic bottle. He is in an open space.

Wastebase DATA

for campaigners, researchers and communities

Our free app makes it easy to record and analyse data from waste and brand audits:

simple scan or search by barcode
auditing features to help you collect data from a specific location
see product data in the app

We can help produce the data you need to make a case for better practice.

wastebase.org

for campaigners, researchers and communities

Use our free platform to:

see instant data from your brand audits
view waste monitoring data from a specific country or region
look up a manufacturer or brand to find out where we've detected their waste
filter data and download reports
use our map to find data hotspots

Visit wastebase.org to use our interactive data dashboard for monitoring single-use plastic waste.

1 Collector scans and sorts waste with our app, instantly uploading data to Wastebase.

2 Collected waste delivered to formal waste management system.

3Plastic diverted from private burning, landfill and waterways to the ocean.

4 Data partners link product records to brand, manufacturer and material data.

5 Data partners use data to improve local waste management.

6Global network of campaigners use data to influence better practice in managing plastic.

Scan waste with our app

Try for free

got to plastictracking.app on your phone to try our app without installing it

Install the app

go to wastebase.app on your phone (Android or iPhone)

Register

you can search for data as soon as you install, but if you would like to record data you can register using your email address

Try the app

Wastebase for communities

We offer free training to community groups who'd like to use Wastebase to find out more about the plastic waste in their area:

find out which brands and companies are responsible for waste
download reports that you can share with your community, local retailers and local government
help your community make more informed choices about which brands they buy
share photos and bottle data on social media using our sharing features

email community@unwaste.io for more info or DM us on Twitter.

Case study: Repensar Environmental Cooperative

"It's so much quicker and easier when we can focus on collecting the PET waste and get the detailed information out of the system back in the office." Josela Capassura, Project Coordinator

Two women wearing masks bending down to collect discarded plastic bottles. The women are wearing yellow rubber gloves. One woman is holding a black bin bag. They are in an outdoor space. There is a pile of empty plastic bottles in the foreground.

Repensar Environmental Education Cooperative is an organization working to reduce plastic waste in the waterways around Maputo, Mozambique. Set up by local lawyer, Carlos Serra, in 2014, it started out by clearing up glass waste left on the city's beauty spots by groups of beer drinkers. Repensar shifted their focus to plastic when Carlos discovered that thousands of bottles were making their way into the mangroves and rivers that surround the city.

Unwaste.io connected with Repensar in 2020. Carlos and his team had already been carrying out local waste audits, mobilizing a group of volunteers to clean up a specific area and to raise awareness by engaging the local community and passers-by. Manual data collection was time-consuming.

We worked with 6 activists to complete their Data Partner training in 2021. This involved field based practical training and classroom learning in their office to log, extract and visualise data in Wastebase.

By the final field session, a team of 8 activists supported by 20 volunteers had collected, sorted and logged over 2,800 plastic waste items in 2 and a half hours.

Repensar's use mid-range PCs and volunteers' own Android phones. These are typically lower end smartphones with around 1Gb of RAM. Repensar's Macaneta coordinator Adelson Mutemba said, "I use my phone for everything and probably have too many apps installed. I was surprised Wastebase worked first time."

After the training, Repensar used Wastebase to immediately build up a picture of the most commonly discarded waste by brand. While the most prominent brand was Coca-Cola, second place went to 'Fizz', a local brand of flavoured soft drinks. The 'leading' mineral water brand, Água de Nammacha (a local brand) took seventh place after six soft drinks brands.

“It was incredibly satisfying to log a piece of waste and see the ‘My waste’ counter on the app tick up,” said Josela Capassura, Repensar’s projects coordinator.

Josela managed 33 scans in her first 15 minutes of field practice. One month later, she scanned over 1,400 items in a single session, working with a colleague who grouped and moved the waste as she recorded the items in the app.

Now they are fully trained Wastebase Data Partners, Repensar are keen to make the most of the platform. They carry out regular audits in key locations around the Maputo area, collecting data about hundreds of products every month.

“It’s really important that we get young people thinking about waste in a different way.

By changing attitudes to waste, we have the power to change our whole approach to plastics and improve the environment for the next generation.”

Carlos Serra, Director

Repensar Mozambique

Read the full case study