Kolekt Exchange
for certificate buyers

A Kolekt Exchange Certificate (a KXC) is proof of waste recovery.

It can be proof of collection & sorting, of recycling, of responsible disposal or more. We aren’t just satisfied when waste materials have been collected, recycled or processed, we want it to re-enter the circular economy. It needs to have been sold or delivered to a buyer/recipient

All tonnes recovered have already been processed

The Proof Points

The basis for this proof are

1. Proof of sale or disposal i.e. and invoices, receipts, or a 2-party traceability transaction

2. Proof of purchase & collection i.e. receipt or 2-party traceability transaction

3. Proof of payment in the bookkeeping system

4. Proof of the operator’s business & environmental licenses

5. All the above are less than 12 months old

6. No double counting of tonnes

7. A regular and independent audit of the above proofs.

Types of Certificates

A KXC is proof of disposal, delivery or sale of a specified number of tonnes of waste materials as a result of:

1. Collection & sorting

2. Recycling (conversion of materials)

3. Processing (cleaning, flaking, baling, co-processing, export)

4. Disposal (in managed landfills, co-processing or W2E)

5. Reduction and reuse of waste

A Certificate can be sold once

Kolekt certificates are not tradable. The buyer uses it to prove that it has contributed to waste recovery and complies with EPR regulations or volunatery targets. A certificate is ‘retired’ immediately when purchased.

All Kolekt certificates and operators have been verified against double counting. Operators cannot receive EPR funds or payments from (plastic) Credit schemes for the same tonnes.

Not a Plastic Credit

Waste recovery certitificates are common in Europe & USA. Most recyclers and collection companies in Europe (RecyClass) and the USA (R2, e-Stewards, Zero waste to landfill, RIOS) already use certificates to prove their waste recovery, A Kolekt certificate is the same, only it is for newly developing waste markets.

A Kolekt Certificate has one purpose: to prove that the waste recovery activity happened, for any kind of waste - not just plastic. It is straightfoward, we need proof of inputs and output. This then serves as proof to PROs, EPR regulators and possibly to HQs of consumer goods companies. That this certificate of proof is used as non-exchangable payment “voucher” is secondary, but important.

A Plastic Credit’s main purpose is to be a performance based financing mechanism for waste sector projects that need the financing to get going. The financiers (buyers of credits) of course want the financing to be used for increasing the waste processing capacity or social impacts, it therefore has additionality requirements. This additionality requires the credits to measure their baseline capacity prior to starting the project. Due to this monitoring complexity they are more rigerous and more expensive, and they require a Standard such as PWRS, PPRS and OBP.
For the Buyers of Credits, the credits are tradeable,this allows Brokers to buy credits first and sell them on to Brands. And for the buyers, although Credits are meant to symobolise the buyer’s contribution to the waste business or project, most buyers see it as a compensation or offsetting mechanism.

Kolekt Certificates aim to be rigorous, yet to be simple enough that the waste operators can create them themselves.