The SuMaKi app, launched at the beginning of May, allows farmers to conveniently use their phones to order pick-up for their sorted white and coloured bale plastics. Sumi’s Materials Manager, Anders Lundin, sheds light on the app’s development, functionalities, and future outlook.
Anders Lundin, who is in charge of the operational duties of Sumi’s two subsidiaries, Suomen Maatalousmuovien Kierrätys Oy and Sumi Åland Ab, only began working at Sumi in April but has already accomplished a great deal in the producer responsibility organisation roster.
“I am excited to be able to develop new effective solutions for the recycling of packaging and agricultural plastics. I immediately got my hands on interesting projects as we began to develop the recently launched SuMaKi app,” Lundin says.
The SuMaKi app, available on the Apple and Android app stores since May, has been in use for about a month. This mobile app is a game-changer for retailers and manufacturers of agricultural plastics. It simplifies the recycling process and, starting from August 2024, will facilitate the direct pick-up of agricultural plastic waste for recycling from farms, significantly reducing the logistical challenges.
“We wanted to provide farmers with an easy-to-use app for which they can register to make orders. Customers can register for the app using the company’s details and add images, coordinates and other information to make the pick-up as effortless as possible for the transport company and farmer,” Lundin explains.
The app was created in cooperation with Enpros Oy, which, according to Lundin, has developed similar apps before. From Sumi’s perspective, this meant a highly agile development process.
“We were provided with demo versions, which made it very easy to fine-tune various functions. The app is easy to use, corroborated by the positive reception among users. There has been almost no feedback on development needs,” Lundin adds.
Through the app, farmers can also request to be e-mailed the transfer documents, which they can use to indicate that they have provided the agricultural plastic waste to the statutory recycling system. In addition to this, the pick-up service is free of charge to farmers, provided that the plastics are sorted correctly.
“We want to ensure that everything related to the producer responsibility is done openly and at a high level of quality, and the app furthers this goal. I recommend all farmers that use agricultural plastics to download and try the app,” Lundin says.
Do you have agricultural plastics that require transport? Download the SuMaKi app here!
Materials Manager Anders Lundin
SuMaKi -app