● December 2025 · Newsletter
Your Impact in 2025: Resilience in Action
2025 has felt heavy - with climate disasters, conflict, injustice, and systems failing those who need them most. In times like these, it’s easy to feel powerless. Yet this year also revealed something powerful: when people choose action, change happens. Individuals and businesses across the Global North stood alongside our collector communities in the Global South, where waste systems are lacking and daily survival can be a struggle. Together, we stopped over 1.3 billion plastic bottles from becoming pollution across five countries and helped more than 27,000 collectors earn steady income, dignity, and opportunity. We also empowered 140+ schools with recycling facilities and education in Indonesia and the Philippines. Hope isn’t distant - it’s visible, measurable, and made possible by you.
As the year comes to a close, we’re reminded that no one is coming to fix this - but together, we already are. Help #Us build a world where plastic waste becomes worth - and people thrive, not struggle.
*Plastic Bank Impact Dashboard (Jan 1–Dec 9, 2025)
Help our planet and people thrive
Our collective impact
61,999 collectors*
exchange plastic for prosperity.
Each bottle provides our collectors with secure income and helps build a brighter future for their families.
179,217,835 kg*
of plastic recovered.
World’s largest volume of hand-gathered plastic - equal to the weight of about 512,000 polar bears roaming the Arctic.**
*All-time data, as of Dec 9, 2025 **One adult male polar bear weighs around 350 kg
Founder’s voice
From London to Utrecht: Advancing regeneration and prosperity
In November, our Founder and CEO, David Katz, spoke at two key events: the Global Innovation Forum 2025 in London and the Sustainable Packaging Summit in Utrecht, the Netherlands. He shared a bold reminder: “You can’t donate the end of poverty - you must create the conditions where it solves itself.” His keynote challenged leaders to rethink poverty and plastic waste as interconnected issues, emphasizing that access, identity, and value - not charity - create lasting change. David also called on brands and consumers to move beyond sustainability and toward regeneration and shared prosperity.
Watch David’s talk at GIF London
Community highlight
Meet Ketut: a collector and a fighter in Bali
Born with one leg smaller than the other, Ketut has always faced mobility challenges, but her determination has never wavered. Instead of giving up, she built her own path: running a small shop while collecting plastic from her customers and community. Through Plastic Bank, that plastic is picked up and turned into income that helps uplift her life.
Ketut reminds us that life isn’t always easy, but with resilience and opportunity, we can rise. The future is up to #Us.
Partner Feature:
Scrapp’s formula for a circular future
Scrapp, a tech company based in Boston, is on a mission to educate and empower a global community toward a circular future. By providing businesses and individuals with tools to recycle properly and reduce waste, Scrapp helps give materials the second life they deserve. Its partnership with Plastic Bank connects everyday recycling actions to tangible global impact.
December observances
This December, we marked two powerful global observances: Giving Tuesday (Dec 2) and Human Rights Day (Dec 10).
These global observances remind us of the urgent challenges we face: poverty, inequality, and pollution. Yet, alongside the urgency, people everywhere are rising to protect their communities and our planet.
That spirit fuels our mission at Plastic Bank: fighting poverty with plastic waste and creating prosperity.
Join our movement and help build a thriving world.
Ways you can support
Offset your plastic footprint
We create 25% more waste during the holidays. The boxes, the tape, the wrapping - it all adds up.
Find out how much plastic your gift creates and offset your footprint. Make this season count.
Check your holiday plastic footprint
Support our school program
Make your holiday meaningful. Support our School Program and help restore our planet.
Your contribution:
educates children on plastic pollution
incentivizes families to recycle
prevents plastic from becoming mismanaged waste and leaking into the environment
This holiday, create a lasting impact for the next generation and for all of us.
Help collector families prosper
Waste collectors are our planet’s unsung heroes - they keep our world clean but often struggle to get by.
This holiday season, turn poverty to prosperity for collector communities. Share your joy with the families who protect our planet.
Give support. Create impact.
Good news from social media
Waste collectors are our planet’s unsung heroes, yet many still struggle to make ends meet. This holiday, give a gift that gives back - help empower collector families and support a cleaner, better world. Make impact your gift. It lasts longer than anything wrapped in a box.
Kids are the future - and our planet needs them. Let’s give them the knowledge, confidence, and opportunity to protect the world they’ll inherit.
Our School Program helps:
🌍 children learn recycling and environmental care,
♻️ incentivize families to recycle,
💙 collectors earn more income
Support our school program!
Follow our social media channels for your daily good news, inspiring stories, and the latest updates from Plastic Bank communities. Check out our top-performing content from December below.