Every month, The Groundbreakers puts an inspiring initiative, product or company in the spotlight. By sharing knowledge and inspiration, we want to stimulate sustainable developments and we hope to contribute to the greening of our environment. This time we highlight Plastic Bank. This is a social enterprise that fights poverty and environmental damage by paying for collected plastic waste.

Recycling revolution

Plastic Bank is revolutionizing by turning plastic waste into gold. In coastal communities of developing countries, the organization is building recycling ecosystems that allow materials to be reintroduced into the global production chain. Residents of these coastal areas are paid for collecting plastic waste in their area, making the cleaning up of plastic waste a source of income. The collected plastic can be taken to the local Plastic Bank branch in exchange for money, fresh food, clean water, telephone services or school fees for their children. In this way, Plastic Bank prevents the plastic from ending up in the ocean and creates employment.  

Blockchain Platform

The collected plastic material is reprocessed into products and packaging. This creates a closed chain and at the same time helps those who collect. With its own blockchain platform, Plastic Bank secures the transactions and data is visible in real time. This makes the process transparent, traceable and scalable. In addition, this technology ensures that the economic development created in these regions is not threatened by corruption or fraud.

Plastic Bank locations

Plastic Bank is currently active in Haiti, Brazil, the Philippines, Indonesia and Egypt. These countries were chosen based on the high percentage of plastic pollution and poverty. These are countries where the lack of waste treatment infrastructure and the increased reliance on disposable packaging leads to disproportionate pollution. On the one hand, Plastic Bank prevents large amounts of plastic from ending up in nature and causing environmental damage, and on the other it creates employment in developing countries. A wonderful project as far as we are concerned!

Do you want to know more about Plastic Bank? Click Read for the website and Read for an explainer video.