The Social Enterprise turning Plastic Waste into Currency

Our Plastic Pollution problem is huge, but together, we can fight the currently, 13 million tonnes of plastic that ends up in our oceans each year and eventually on our plates. Here’s a Plastic Pollution Solution by a Social Enterprise that makes it worthwhile to collect plastics and recycle them so it won’t end up in our rivers and oceans.

This is how Social Plastic, The Plastic Bank stops ocean plastic pollution. They empower communities and bring dignity to recycling.

Check out this short intro video.

The idea is simple:

If plastic waste is worth money, people will pick it up, bring it to the designated recycling center, earning a small amount of money and preventing the plastic from entering our ecosystem.

Did you know that creating new ‘virgin plastics’ oftentimes is less expensive than recycling plastics? This is one of the reasons that there is so much plastic waste out there. The Plastic Bank has managed to set up processes that make it economically viable to collect plastic waste and recycle it. We find that very impressive.

The execution is more difficult because The Plastic Bank needs everyone on board

The difficult part is getting organizations involved. Organizations that want to use social plastic to create new products. Why is this difficult? Because at the moment, this is more expensive than the traditional way of creating products. This means that the consumer needs to chip in. Buying slightly more expensive products with a story. Kinda like buying organic food or fair trade products. It’s a bit more expensive but better for the environment.

A few responsible partners

Plastic Bank has partnered with Henkel, Marks & Spencer, Eat Natural, SC Johnson and Norton Point, and others to manufacture products made from Social Plastics. GlobalOwls thanks these corporates for being on the front line! Let’s hope many more will follow.

Want to learn more and see the Plastic Bank’s impact? Check out this short video

We need everyone on board to tackle the plastic problem

Consumers

It all starts with consumers demanding organizations to use less plastic or recycled plastics. Also, consumers need to do the right thing. It’s sometimes as easy as bringing your own bag when doing groceries instead of constantly buying plastic bags and throwing them away. Here’s a list of Reusable Grocery Bags to get you started.

Politics

Governments have a great role to play. They can raise taxes, incentivize organizations, educate consumers and much more. In the Netherlands, shops were forbidden to give away free plastic bags. If consumers wanted a plastic bag, they needed to buy one for 5 cents.

When this was introduced, many people were outraged. They thought that the government just wanted to earn more money. Many people had no idea what was happening with plastic pollution. This was a great way to educate all Dutch citizens about plastic pollution and make them each and every time aware of what they’re purchasing.

People and organizations educating others

Many people still don’t know how bad plastics impact our environment. There’s still a long way to go to educate billions of people. GlobalOwls is committed to playing a big role in spreading awareness about plastic pollution and solutions to this problem.

People and organizations cleaning up the beaches and oceans. 

There are already great initiatives to clean up beaches and the ocean cleanup recently launched the largest cleanup in history. Let’s hope we can stop manufacturing new plastics and recycle 100% of plastics already made. We would still need to clean up plastics which are already in our oceans.

Over to you

Share your thoughts about plastic pollution, how you are making a difference, which other great initiatives you know in the comment section below. I’m really looking forward to reading your comments.

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