Seven Eleven, Industry's First 'PET Bottle and Can' Collection Robot Pilot Operation

A Total of 6 Units... Installed in Some Metropolitan Area Stores
Can Accommodate Up to 1,500 Items per Day
Points Earned Can Be Cashed In

On the 5th, Seven Eleven announced that it has installed the industry's first PET bottle and can automatic collection machine, the 'AI Circular Resource Recovery Robot,' at major stores in the metropolitan area in collaboration with the Environmental Foundation. The photo shows Choi Kyung-ho, CEO of Seven Eleven (right), and Choi Yeol, Chairman of the Environmental Foundation (left), posing for a commemorative photo. Photo by Choi Kyung-ho

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Seven Eleven is playing a role as a resource circulation hub in everyday life.

Seven Eleven announced on the 5th that it has installed a total of six 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) Circular Resource Collection Robots,' the industry's first automatic collection machines for PET bottles and cans, at major stores in the metropolitan area and is launching a campaign to promote recycling in daily life in collaboration with the Environmental Foundation.

Seven Eleven's circular resource collection robots are located with one unit in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, two units in Songpa-gu, and three units in Seo-gu (Cheongna), Incheon. They have been installed at Doseon Cafe Branch, Lotte World Mall Aquarium Branch, Cheongna Incheon Branch, Cheongna Rin Branch, and Incheon Seo-gu Office Branch.

Seven Eleven's circular resource collection robots accept both PET bottles and cans. When users enter their mobile phone number and insert recyclables, the AI system recognizes whether the item is a circular resource, automatically compresses, sorts, and stores it. It can accommodate up to 1,500 items per day, and collection is carried out daily through Superbin, the developer of the resource collection robots. The collected resources are sent to local recycling centers.

Users of Seven Eleven's circular resource collection robots can also receive points that can be converted into cash. Five points are awarded per PET bottle, and seven points per can. After registering on the Superbin website and applying for point conversion, points can be redeemed for cash starting from 2,000 points. Points can also be donated. Donated points are used for various environmental improvement projects through the Environmental Foundation.

Through the installation and operation of these circular resource collection robots, Seven Eleven expects to contribute to a plastic circular economy by securing high-purity resources and to enhance the convenience store's role and status as an eco-friendly practice space in daily life. In the future, additional stores will be selected by commercial district and gradually expanded, and eco-friendly campaigns targeting citizens will be carried out.

Gye Sang-hyuk, Chairman of the Seven Eleven Franchisee Association, said, “We are pleased that Seven Eleven can play a small but meaningful role in addressing the issue of household waste, which has recently emerged as one of the most important environmental issues in our society,” and added, “Seven Eleven franchisees will unite their intentions to support the purpose of resource circulation and actively participate.”

Choi Kyung-ho, CEO of Seven Eleven, said, “By installing the Green Seven recycling booths at convenience stores close to our daily lives, we expect to improve accessibility for citizens and promote recycling habits and environmental education for children,” and added, “We will continue to actively utilize Seven Eleven’s nationwide platform to carry out various environmental love activities that can be practiced in everyday life.”

Meanwhile, Seven Eleven declared the eco-friendly convenience store 'Green Seven' campaign in 2018 and has been practicing environmental love activities in various ways. It has installed environmental donation coin boxes in over 10,000 stores nationwide and has raised about 150 million KRW in environmental funds, which were donated to the Environmental Foundation. It was the first in the distribution industry to replace disposable ice cups with recyclable plain ice cups. Additionally, it operates electric vehicle charging stations at 11 major suburban stores.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.