Plastic Bank®: From Trash to Treasure

This is a sponsored article from SustainabilityTracker.com member Snooze.

Discover how the team behind Plastic Bank® have created a circular recycling economy that is helping to solve a global waste problem, and empowering impoverished coastal communities world-wide.

When searching for meaningful ways to reduce our environmental footprint, the team at Snooze researched sustainable fabrics, with the hopes of creating a premium quality bedding range, made from recycled materials. We found Advansa Suprelle® Blue. Weaving the fabrics of the future, Advansa’s, Suprelle® Blue is not only a high-quality, sustainably-made fabric, it is made using recycled plastic bottles exclusively collected by Plastic Bank®, an internationally recognised solution to plastic waste. Plastic Bank®is a social enterprise, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that builds recycling ecosystems in underdeveloped communities. Aiming to fight both plastic pollution in oceans as well as poverty levels in developing countries, Plastic Bank® provides opportunities for people living in poverty to collect plastic and trade it for vital goods and services, such as: school tuition, cooking fuel, medical insurance, pharmaceuticals and internet access, with the aim of adding more benefits as the project grows.In a talk presented at the TED Institute, David Katz, the founder and CEO of Plastic Bank®, outlines the nature of the problem faced by increasing amounts of plastic waste, and the importance of wanting to create a viable trade out of recycling for underdeveloped coastal communities.

“We’re trending to produce over 300 million tonne [sic]of plastic this year.” says David. “Roughly eight million tonne are racing to flow into the ocean to join the estimated 150 million tonne already there. Reportedly, 80 percent of ocean plastic is coming from those countries that have extreme poverty. And if you live in the grips of poverty, concerned always, about food or shelter or a sense of security, recycling — it’s beyond your realm of imagination.” Each Plastic Bank® collector is given the value of their collected plastic waste to use in credits. Plastic Bank then reprocesses the collected plastic waste for reintroduction into the supply chain as Social Plastic® feedstock. In creating Plastic Bank®, David has given plastic waste a value. Products made from Social Plastic® feedstock provide consumers the
opportunity to make sustainable and purposeful choices, by being marked with a Social
Plastic® logo. In addition to developing a system designed to empower impoverished communities, David
passionately articulates a fundamental point that underpins the enterprise: before we clean up the mess in the ocean, he illustrates that we must first stem the flow of pollution at its source.

“If you were to walk into a kitchen, sink overflowing, water spilling all over the floor, soaking into the walls, you had to think fast, you’re going to panic; you’ve got a bucket, a mop or a plunger. What do you do first? Why don’t we turn off the tap? It would be pointless to mop or plunge or scoop up the water if we don’t turn off the tap first. Why aren’t we doing the same for the ocean?”. Plastic Bank® offers an inspired solution to a worldwide waste problem and the global business community has taken notice. David and his team have joined forces with a series of major companies to expand the enterprise and continue to grow the vision of Plastic Bank. David likens his Social Plastic project to ‘Bitcoin for the earth’ and says: “…preventing ocean plastic could be humanity’s richest opportunity.”

Through its partnership with Advansa, who creates the Suprelle Blue fabric we use in our Suprelle range of quilts and pillows, Plastic Bank® reports it has helped stop over 1.3 million kilograms of plastic from entering the ocean to-date. Equivalent to more than 66 million plastic bottles. We look forward to following the achievements and growth of this internationally recognised solution to plastic waste. Click here to find out more about Plastic Bank®.

This is an article from a SustainabilityTracker.com Member. The views and opinions we express here don’t necessarily reflect our organisation.