!DEA FACTORYTHE SOCIAL INNOVATIONS LAB

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About us and our journey

Idea Factory is a social innovation lab in Jaffna, founded around 2018 by two University of Jaffna science graduates. It is the first social innovations lab of its kind in Jaffna: a hub for experimentation and collaboration on local challenges.

Legal name
Idea Factory The Social Innovations Lab (Pvt) Ltd
Brand
!dea Factory, The Social Innovations Lab
Founded
c. 2018, Jaffna
Founders
Anu Rakavan and Aeneas Jerron Velu
Address
Karpaga Pillayar Road, Urumpirai, Jaffna
Focus
Social innovation, green technology, Internet of Things
Spin-off
Sustainable Waste Management (Pvt) Ltd

Our story

Idea Factory The Social Innovations Lab (Pvt) Ltd was founded in Jaffna by two University of Jaffna science graduates, a chemist and a physicist.

We build and test technology that helps communities solve their own problems, starting with plastic waste.

Our work began in 2017 with a single question: what would make people want to recycle? The answer became Price ur Plastic, and the lab grew around it. Today we run pilots with schools and partners, publish research on how rewards change behaviour, and manage a coworking space in Jaffna city.

  • Social innovationNew ways to tackle local problems, designed and tested with the people affected.
  • Green technologyUpcycling, recycling and plastic recovery that make environmental sense and economic sense.
  • Internet of ThingsConnected devices and apps that track, reward and measure real-world behaviour.

Anu Rakavan

Co-founder and Chief of Innovation

A chemist and University of Jaffna science graduate. Anu holds an MSc in Environmental Science from the Open University of Sri Lanka, with a thesis on using gamification to reduce plastic waste.

LinkedIn

Aeneas Jerron Velu

Co-founder

A physicist with a BSc (2018) and an MPhil (2025) from the University of Jaffna. Aeneas researches smart tracking and gamification for plastic waste management.

Personal site

How Price ur Plastic works

Gamified reverse vending machines for used plastic bottles, built for offices, malls, conference halls and campuses.

  1. Enter your number

    Type your phone number on the machine's keypad.

  2. Drop your bottles

    Feed in your used plastic bottles one by one.

  3. Get points by SMS

    Points for every bottle arrive on your phone straight away.

  4. Win rewards

    Redeem points for mobile credit, unlock achievements and compete for cash prizes.

When a machine is full, it is emptied by the municipal council or by plastic collectors, so every bottle goes on to be recycled.

Projects and pilots

What we have built, tested and spun off.

Flagship, since 2017

Price ur Plastic

Reverse vending machines built from upcycled components, using IoT and behaviour analysis to make recycling rewarding.

  • Patent pending
  • Pilot with Coca-Cola Sri Lanka on behaviour change through positive feedback
  • The founders report a return on investment in under six months
  • 1st place, Venture Frontier Lanka Startup Boot Camp, Jaffna (2018)
  • 2nd of 78 teams, Sampath Green Inventor 2017
  • 2nd runner-up, Mora Ventures 3.0, University of Moratuwa (2018)

14,000+bottles in five days

Pilot, December 2024

Plastic Waste Bank at Jaffna College

The first school-based plastic waste bank in Sri Lanka, run at Jaffna College, Vaddukoddai, from 18 to 22 December 2024. Classrooms competed to collect the most bottles, and the top ten won sports kit and classroom supplies. The results were studied in a paper at ICPIES 2025.

Read the Daily Mirror story
Spin-off

Sustainable Waste Management (Pvt) Ltd

The company that grew out of Price ur Plastic. It raises plastic recovery by gamifying waste management with IoT devices, mobile apps and off-grid systems, using a self-sustaining rewards model that also supports plastic collectors. It was among the start-ups representing Sri Lanka at GITEX Asia under the EU's Global Gateway programme.

Managed space

TRACE Coworking Jaffna City

The Jaffna branch of TRACE, the Sri Lankan innovation-park organisation behind TRACE Expert City in Colombo. Located in Ruban Complex, Jaffna, and managed by Idea Factory under a partnership with TRACE.

Side project

Upcycled bottles for urban farming

Used plastic bottles given a second life as planters for smart urban farming and vertical farming.

Our journey

From a university project to a lab, a spin-off company and published research.

  1. Price ur Plastic beginsThe project that started it all.
  2. Idea Factory founded in JaffnaBy Anu Rakavan and Aeneas Jerron Velu.
  3. 2nd runner-up at Mora Ventures 3.0University of Moratuwa, for Price ur Plastic.
  4. 1st place, Venture Frontier Lanka Startup Boot CampHeld in Jaffna with Yarl IT Hub, among 19 start-ups, for a patented bottle-recycling machine that pays recyclers in mobile credit. The top three teams received three months of global mentorship.
  5. 2nd of 78 teams at Sampath Green Inventor 2017A University of Jaffna team won LKR 150,000 for the Price ur Plastic reverse vending machine, competing against teams from 17 universities.
  6. Selected for South Asia ConnectAt the Nexus Startup Hub, American Center, New Delhi. A US State Department programme run by the University of Texas IC2 Institute for start-ups from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
  7. Price ur Plastic launchedAt the Jaffna International Trade Fair 2020, Muttraweli Grounds, 24 to 26 January.
  8. Joined ICTA's Spiralation 2020 cohortOne of 20 start-ups selected.
  9. Bottle collection at the University of JaffnaLaunched on Global Recycling Day.
  10. Resume Writing WorkshopFor University of Jaffna management students, run with The Management Club (TMC) Jaffna. Led by Anu Rakavan and T. Nuwan to a full house.
  11. Two papers on plastics and technologyPresented at the International Conference on Plastics & Environmental Sustainability.
  12. Plastic Waste Bank pilot at Jaffna CollegeSri Lanka's first school-based waste bank collected over 14,000 bottles in five days.
  13. Waste bank research at ICPIES 2025Presented at the Open University of Sri Lanka.

Research

Our papers study how technology and gamification can cut plastic waste. They are the ideas behind Price ur Plastic.

  • 2025
    Influence of Rewards and Gamified Experience in Waste Management Among School Students in Jaffna College Sri LankaSripathmanathan Anurakavan, Jerron Velu Aeneas. ICPIES 2025, The Open University of Sri Lanka.
    View in repository
  • 2024
    Smart Tracking of Plastic Containers for an Efficient Waste Management FutureAeneas Jerron Velu. International Conference on Plastics & Environmental Sustainability.
    View listing
  • 2024
    Gamification of Plastic Waste Management for Behavioral ChangeAeneas Jerron Velu. International Conference on Plastics & Environmental Sustainability.
    View listing
  • 2022–24
    The Potential of Gamification to Promote Behaviour Change Towards Plastic Waste ReductionAnu Rakavan. MSc thesis in Environmental Science, The Open University of Sri Lanka.
    View listing

Work with us

Schools, companies, councils, researchers and anyone with a local problem worth solving. Pick where you fit and we'll take it from there.

Bring us a challenge

Tell us what's happening and who it affects.