Capgemini co-creates solutions to accelerate the future of recycling in Southeast Asia with Heng Hiap Industries

Heng Hiap Industries works with over 28,000 domestic plastic recyclers to buy and convert plastic scraps into high performance resin before selling it to clients that include top South Korean appliance manufacturers and Japanese automotive companies. However, the company was struggling to keep pace with the demand for quality recycled plastic as the collection processes were manual and complex, involving pen and paper transactions as well as in-person negotiation.

By digitally transforming its plastic recycling operations, Heng Hiap aims to collect more and better-quality plastic by extending its collection infrastructure beyond informal collectors and grassroots recyclers, all the way to the household level, through a simplified and user friendly collection process. In the long term, the plastic recycling company envisions creating a truly circular economy for plastics by helping its business-to-business (B2B) customers address the growing pressure from eco-conscious consumers for greater transparency and traceability.

Through research and design-thinking based collaboration with Heng Hiap, a team comprising experts from Capgemini’s Applied Innovation Exchange (AIE) and its specialists in design and digital customer experience created a 5-year business model to help make the company’s vision into a reality. The team had a clear focus on a number of key success factors: leveraging conscious consumers as driving the demand for recycled plastics; making the adoption of the solution attractive to both collectors and consumers; and providing a solution that meets the public compliance and sustainability commitments of the brands that consumers love.

Reimagining the way consumers recycle plastics using mobile technology

One of the central elements proposed is a mobile application designed to revolutionize the plastic recycling process by introducing a new way for consumers to recycle their waste. Through the app, consumers can request a pickup of their recyclables from their doorstep while collectors can respond to requests, plan routes, track consumer satisfaction ratings, and receive payments digitally. Not only does the app make collection easier, it also motivates consumers to recycle their plastic waste through gamifying the process by earning points each time they recycle their plastics. This solution helps introduce a new source of plastic directly from households, that can be sorted and cleaned, and enhances visibility on the transportation and overall processing of plastic waste.

“In short, we make plastic recycling simple, convenient, and worthwhile,” said Seah Kian Hoe, Founder and Managing Director of Heng Hiap Industries. “With integrated traceability and digitization innovations, we can achieve a greener world and keep waste out of the ground and oceans for good. Capgemini is a believer in digitalization and sustainability, hence we chose them as our innovation partner for expansion, particularly in the Southeast Asia region. We are truly excited to see where our partnership goes.”

“We are very pleased that Heng Hiap Industries has placed their confidence in Capgemini for this meaningful collaboration, which challenges the traditional model of plastic consumption and is set to reshape the future of plastic recycling in the region,” said Sumit Nurpuri, Chief Operating Officer of Capgemini in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. “The greatest environmental impact we can have is through the services that we create and deliver to our clients and this successful partnership is yet another proof point of Capgemini’s capabilities to rewrite the playbook and translate sustainability and inclusivity into revenue-generating business imperatives.”

Capgemini believes that digital transformation should benefit all of humanity and this collaboration with Heng Hiap Industries is a testament to its purpose of unleashing human energy through technology for an inclusive and sustainable future.

About Capgemini

Capgemini is a global leader in partnering with companies to transform and manage their business by harnessing the power of technology. The Group is guided everyday by its purpose of unleashing human energy through technology for an inclusive and sustainable future. It is a responsible and diverse organization of 270,000 team members in nearly 50 countries. With its strong 50 year heritage and deep industry expertise, Capgemini is trusted by its clients to address the entire breadth of their business needs, from strategy and design to operations, fueled by the fast evolving and innovative world of cloud, data, AI, connectivity, software, digital engineering and platforms. The Group reported in 2020 global revenues of €16 billion.

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