Invest on the JSE with the money from your recycling waste – a world first!

An exciting partnership between Imagined Earth and EasyEquities, two CN&CO partners, now allows you to convert the money that you earn from recycling into share ownership. It’s a world first and an initiative that we are incredibly excited about.

Imagine that…

Turning waste into money and using this money to own your first shares in a company that is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Well, the good news is that this world first offering is now live and available to all South Africans. It’s an initiative that has been under way for a couple of months, and one that we have been looking forward to sharing with you. It’s one that asks us to re-think the value that our packaging waste has and, through digitising recycling, Imagined Earth has been able to showcase the tangible of recyclable items – turning what we may have previously conceived as worthless waste into an item with a rand value that can be used to grow your financial wealth.

CN&CO’s Carel Nolte, who is also the CMO at EasyEquities, says “EasyEquities users are delighted by the partnership. It’s given them the ability to support the environment, the circular economy and grow their wealth all by simply recycling”.

Launched in 2015, Imagined Earth is a forward-thinking green tech and recycling business that allows you to earn money and rewards for recycling your packaging waste through reverse vending machines (RVMs). They are the proud partner for Africa for INCOM TOMRA and TOMRA. INCOM TOMRA Recycling Technology is a Chinese-Norwegian joint venture.

“We are living in an era of convenience and circular thinking. Imagined Earth, in partnership with business, provides a highly effective recovery tool that empowers people to live sustainably in these modern times,” says Justin Needham, general manager of Imagined Earth.

RVMs allow shoppers and recyclers to “return and earn”. From a global standpoint, the concept of reverse vending is not new, although to many South Africans it is still a novel concept. Imagined Earth is the first company to introduce RVM  technology in South Africa. RVMs work much like regular vending machines except they accept (empty) containers and dispense rewards. These “green machines” identify products by their barcodes and reward shoppers directly, into their digital wallet on the Imagined Earth app.

Here’s how you can get involved and start converting your recycling into money that you can use to buy shares in your EasyEquities account.

1. Download the Imagined Earth App and sign up: https://imaginedearth.com
2. Collect and #recycle your packaging waste in one of the RVMs
3. Link your EasyEquities account inside the app
4. Redeem your recycling funds from your Imagined Earth app into your EasyEquities account and invest in the brands you are familiar with.

Imagined Earth currently has RVMs in Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban. It is in discussion with a number of partners in South Africa to expand on the number of recycling locations. We will be sure to update you as more locations are brought to life. You can locate your closest RVM by clicking on “where can I recycle”. This returns all RVMs that are in a 15 km radius of your current location.

While we are on the area of sustainability and the circular economy, keep an eye out for the #EasyEasy show on People’s Weather Channel. Tune into channel 180 on DSTV,. It will be launching over the coming weeks and there are exciting prizes to be won.

If you have any questions about Imagined Earth or would like us to connect you to the team, please get in touch with Joshua (joshua@cnandco.com).

Here’s a snippet of what you can look forward to with #EasyEasy on the Peoples Weather Channel.