Can Business Help Solve Plastic Waste?

My first pitch was rejected. At first, I thought the problem was our technology. Maybe our platform was not advanced enough, or maybe our presentation was not convincing enough. But after going back to the problem, I realized we were asking a bigger question: What if reducing plastic waste is not only a technology problem, but also a business and consumer problem? That question became the starting point for PlasTrack. My team wanted to create a system that could connect consumers, businesses, and governments. Instead of simply telling people to use less plastic, we wanted to understand what could actually encourage them to change their choices. The idea was simple: if consumers create demand for more sustainable products, businesses have a reason to change what they produce. Building PlasTrack taught me that solving a problem is not always about creating the most complicated technology. Sometimes, it starts with understanding how people, businesses, and policies affect each other.