Plastic Junk Car / Tene
For over 30 years, the junk car has been a part of Georgian daily life, becoming a cultural icon and social signal, symbolizing someone coming to collect metal – a crucial source of income for families in Georgia during challenging economic times. The Junk car, with its iconic sound, stood the test of time. During modern times, it became the subject of many Coubs, memes, and TikTok trends. There was even a song, a video game, and a TV show created about the junk car! We seem to be just stuck with it indefinitely.
Tene is a small first-ever Georgian recycling company. It is also the first Georgian company to produce USBs and the first social enterprise in the field of green economy from our country. They make green USB cables from secondary waste and aim to fight against environmental pollution. Our objective was to raise awareness about environmental issues among people, informing them about the impacts of human behaviors on our planet. By incorporating Tene into the junk car phenomenon, we achieved the goal of introducing the culture of collecting and recycling plastic to the everyday lives of Georgian people.
Summary of the Work
To this day, junk cars are still around every corner, but despite that, statistically, one citizen produces 42.6kg of plastic waste annually. So, we thought, what if there is a way to use the junk car phenomenon for something good?
Since TENE collects plastic to recycle, we invented a Plastic Junk Car! It is similar to the junk car experience, but in this case, instead of metal, the tene team collects plastic and offers eco-friendly USB cables in exchange.
To attract attention, we modified the classic message associated with a junk car that its driver shouts, usually with a megaphone – We are collecting metal! Turning it into: We are collecting plastic! And then we headed to conquer all the plastic in the city with the CEO of TENE at the steering wheel of our junk car! As for the people looking from the windows, we placed a QR code on the rooftop of our junk car. It would take anyone who clicked on it to a webpage showing the impact of plastic on nature.
Results:
The results surpassed all expectations. In the first week, the TENE brand interaction increased by 500%, and the brand reach skyrocketed by 1000%. In total, we collected 10 tons of plastic. We saved 4500 years’ worth of plastic and made 2500 USBs with all of that.
In the following weeks, more incredible things happened – with the help of this campaign, we won the EU tender, receiving funding to purchase what we now affectionately call the Plastic Junk Truck. The President of Georgia and Tbilisi City Hall contacted us to work together to create a sustainable environment. We partnered with a large Georgian company for plastic drop-off locations across Georgia, and every region will have its Plastic Junk Car!
Our recycling bins have been installed in 80+ companies and more than 150+ schools. We received an invitation from the Social Impact Hub and the EU Social Entrepreneurship Young Ambassador 2024. Different Georgian counties are requesting we visit them with the junk car daily.
Also, more plastic collected means more recycling, which means the people who donated it will get more money back! Just like in Europe! But most importantly, we will reduce plastic consumption by recycling in Georgia from 43% to 21% by 2030, surpassing UN Global Goals!
All achieved at a $ 0 cost!
