Plastic Bank turns 10!

The idea of changing the world can be overwhelming. You are filled with doubts and confusion – not knowing how, when, and where to start. But the secret is to JUST BEGIN. You don’t need to know everything, you just have to commit to becoming the person who could make a difference.

It is in the courage and the trying that we become – the change, the purpose, the solution, the movement. It is about all of us, gathering together to play our part within the one story of life. The sooner each one of us becomes, the better the story for all of us.

Over the last decade, we have stopped more than 80 million kilograms of plastic from entering the ocean – the equivalent of stopping 4 billion plastic bottles. This achievement is a collective effort of our collection community members, branch owners, processors, partners, and employees – the Humans of Social Recycling from around the world.

But this is just the beginning…

As we celebrate the 10th year of Plastic Bank, our mission evolves from ‘turning off the tap to ocean plastic’ to a broader and deeper movement that enables people to become the change they seek in our world.

In our quest for Ocean Stewardship, we realized that recycling has to be human-powered. Impact contributions and the purchase of recycled materials alone cannot solve the plastic pollution crisis. Humanity needs a perpetual and persistent behavioral change, which brings the mindfulness of recycling in what we purchase, how we use it, and how we dispose of it.

Our 10th anniversary marks the beginning of a new era where we become the Humans of Social Recycling – humans who believe that the creation of a wasteless world starts with us. A future where no material is wasted and no human is wasteful. A future where ocean plastic and poverty do not exist, to begin with. A future where all people can thrive.

Philippines

In partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), our team in the Philippines gave away pushcarts to 11 of our top collection community members in Tondo, Manila. The distribution, which took place in the Manila City Municipal Hall, recognized the efforts of our collection members in stopping ocean plastic and empowering their communities to thrive.

Indonesia

In April, our Community Partnership Program in Indonesia reached a total of 25 schools, educating over 7,500 students about the importance of proper plastic waste management across Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Java, West Java, and South Tangerang. In addition to increasing environmental awareness of the younger generation, we set up collection branches on our partners’ campuses to provide school communities with accessible plastic collection and recycling.

Brazil

Our Community Development Program activities continued in April as we distributed 191 vegetable kits to our collection members in Espirito Santo. The Plastic Bank Brazil team also gave away 50 food boxes to our members in Itaguai, Rio de Janeiro, and assisted them in obtaining basic government documents, such as national IDs.

Egypt

In April, we launched an after-school education program for the children of our collection community members. In its first month, professionals from a non-governmental organization that specializes in children’s education provided childcare services for 200 kids after school hours to play educational games and have fun while their parents continued collection activities!

Sustainable care and styling range