Where we operate

When making purchases, most low-income communities across the globe rely on economical options often packed in single-use plastic, such as water bottles, sachets, and more. This leads to the overconsumption of cheap disposable goods, which contributes to the global plastic pollution affecting us all.

Developing countries often lack plastic recycling programs and infrastructure, and have inadequate waste management systems. This creates a huge amount of single-use plastic left in the environment, eventually finding its way to our oceans.

The only way to break this unfavorable cycle is to provide low-income communities with access to waste management infrastructure and education to make more informed decisions about plastic consumption, while simultaneously empowering them with additional income and social benefits to pave a path out of poverty.

US ranks first in the top 10 countries that generate the most plastic waste – producing 34 billion kilograms annually. India comes at second place with 26.3 billion kilograms of plastic waste, followed by China (21.6 billion kilograms), Brazil (10.6 billion kilograms), Indonesia (9.1 billion kilograms), Russia (8.4 billion kilograms), Germany (6.6 billion kilograms), the UK (6.4 billion kilograms), Mexico (5.9 billion kilograms) and Japan (4.8 billion kilograms).

Although the population of developed countries generate high amounts of plastic waste, they have better waste management infrastructure and plastic recycling facilities in their communities. Thus, developing countries tend to produce a higher amount of mismanaged plastic waste that leaks into the ocean.

Countries with smaller land areas, lengthier coastlines, increased rainfall, and inadequate waste management infrastructures are more prone to having plastic waste end up in the ocean. More than 1,000 rivers account for 80% of global annual emissions, which range between 0.8 billion and 2.7 billion kilograms per year, with small urban rivers among the most polluting.

The Philippines is the leading country on the list of top 10 ocean plastic contributors – generating an estimated 356.371 million kilograms of plastic waste in our ocean. This is followed by India (126.513 million kilograms), Malaysia (73.098 million kilograms), China (70.707 million kg), Indonesia (56.333 million kilograms), Myanmar (40.000 million kilograms), Brazil (37.799 million kilograms), Vietnam (28.221 million kg), Bangladesh (24.640 million kilograms), and Thailand (22.806 million kilograms). The primary contributors to ocean plastic pollution are concentrated in developing Asian nations, with the exception of Brazil.

Prior to expanding to a new country or community, we evaluate a range of factors:

• The volume of plastic leaking into the ocean
• Poverty level
• Population density
• Level of collection infrastructure already in place
• Access to local processors, their capabilities, and capacity
• Logistical infrastructure
• Presence of coastal communities looking for additional income

Based on the outcome from these findings, we consider countries and communities for our short, mid and long-term expansion roadmap.

When we enter a community, we engage with collection members, households, small business owners, cooperatives, community centres, and schools to drive awareness, engagement and behavioural changes.

Through broad engagement, we discover the most desired unmet social needs of the communities. This helps us to localize our collection model and tailor our social programs to have maximum impact.