Circular Solutions for Plastic Pollution: Sustainable and Ethical Collection Infrastructure for Plastic Waste

This good practice case study is part of a series of knowledge products developed by the SEA circular project to showcase exemplary market-based solutions that bring about transformational changes in the way plastic is managed in the value chain. Only about nine per cent of this plastic waste being produced globally ends up being recycled. At present, the economy is linear: product consumption, use and waste. The circular economy is an essential alternative that relies on increasing the amount of plastic that is recycled and reused, and thus requires collective action from businesses, public actors, development institutions and consumers. Plastic Bank is a social enterprise that has successfully created a model that supports different actors in the plastic value chain to ultimately eliminate ocean plastic. Its business model is based on revealing the value in plastic waste by turning it into money.