Translations

PLASTIC BANK recycles waste to help poverty in Haiti

4. Environment

Waste management

Sector Other

Year 2016

Country Haiti

Transmitter

Context

David Katz, founder and CEO of Plastic Bank is an entrepreneur of the circular economy with a triple bottom line (people, planet and profits). Founded in 2013, its company called the Plastic Bank, was built in order to transform plastic waste into a bargaining chip to give them a value in the eyes of the poorest, in order to reduce poverty and pollution of the oceans.

Objectives

Create new jobs in low- income communities
Encourage plastic collectors to become micro-entrepreneurs
Provide via Plastic Bank the opportunity to exchange the plastic it against goods or services to improve the daily lives of the collectors.
Demonstrate the commercial interest of plastic waste and find a profitable outlet to stop the production of new plastics.

APPROACH

Establishing partnerships with local NGOs to involve them in the process of collection.
Promote jobs that employ people that will take charge of a small infrastructure
The suppliers ( local ) , collect plastic waste and exchange it for money, goods or services
The waste is then processed and sent to a plant where they are processed into raw materials : this is the principle of circular economy.
This "social plastic" is then bought by producers that will establish new products, and commercialize them

CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE

Plastic Bank received the Community Award Sustainia at the COP 21
New International Partnerships

Benefits

The program has collected more that 3,000,000 lbs in 2014-2015 alone.
2015-2016 targets are 5,000,000 lbs and opening 30 new collection centres.
Completion in 2015 of a partnership which impacts more than 1,000 Haitians
In 2016 , Plastic Bank plans to recycle over 22,500 tons of plastic waste and improve the living conditions of thousands of Haitians through social plastic.