100,000,000 reasons to celebrate!

A story of hope and transformation unfolds in the face of plastic pollution and poverty. Imagine over 100 million kilograms of discarded plastic — a staggering 220 million pounds, equivalent to 5 billion 500ml bottles — prevented from polluting our precious environment.

This isn’t just a dream; it’s a remarkable milestone that we’ve achieved together! Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to our 40,000+ collection members across more than 580 recycling communities, who gathered each piece of plastic by hand, carving their paths out of poverty with it. A shout-out to our partners, supporters, and YOU too, for being part of the Social Recycling movement.

What an incredible journey we're on, and we're only just beginning! Before we continue this adventure, take a moment to watch the video below and discover four of the 100,000,000 reasons to celebrate the purpose, wisdom and passion of our community members.

Data as of Oct 17, 2023

Nia Sari, one of our collection members in Indonesia, had been dragging an old, unreliable motorbike with her load of collected plastic and financial worries. We changed that last September when we surprised her at her home in Bali.

Watch her story and learn how your support has helped transform her life!

Last September, our team in the Philippines joined a cleanup initiative in Tanza, Cavite, organized by our impact partner, Coca-Cola Philippines. The event, held in honour of International Coastal Cleanup Day, brought together volunteers and employees from Coca-Cola, Plastic Bank, and the Lighthouse Foundation, who collected 1,000 kilograms of discarded materials.

Earlier this month, our CEO, Ben Lavoie, and Chief Supply & Countries Officer, Gidget Velez, visited our collection communities and processing partners in East Java, Indonesia. They met Asnihah, a collection member who shared how collecting discarded plastic empowered her to pay off her motorbike installments. Ben and Gidget also had the privilege of engaging with the teachers and students of MI Darussalam Sugihwara, one of our school community partners in the country.

In Brazil, we collaborated with our partner, Davines, to organize a cleanup event at Rio de Janeiro's Jacarepaguá Lagoon. The company’s CEO, Anthony Molet, General Manager, Mark Giannadrea, and some of its employees had an insightful experience, learning about plastic pollution as we picked up discarded materials in the area. After the cleanup, our members sorted the collected materials, ensuring that recyclable plastic was segregated and dispatched to one of our dedicated collection branches.

Our Egypt team welcomed John Holden, the host of the award-winning TV series EARTH, which showcases environmental initiatives. John collaborated with our Founder, David Katz, and our partner, Henkel, to film an episode on how the Humans of Social Recycling are playing a pivotal role in reshaping the future of our planet.

Carlos Santos, the Founder and CEO of Ethos Asset Management and Ethos Group, also visited our collection community in Manshyet Nasser this month. During his visit, he witnessed the remarkable developments taking place within our ecosystem and the impact we are making on ground.