The Plastic Collective, a leading social enterprise focused on solving the plastic waste epidemic, will start using the KOLEKT waste management app to monitor all its plastics purchasing and processing transactions. Developed by BVRio Group company Kolekt, the mobile solution will be used at Plastic Collective partner locations in Ghana and Indonesia. The plastic collection and recycling projects are funded by the World Bank through its innovative and transformational sustainable development outcome bond of $100 million, of which part of the returns will fund the plastics projects over the next seven years.
The funding is helping Plastic Collective’s mission to rid the world of plastic waste by channelling private capital to support plastic collection and recycling projects in remote and vulnerable communities to access sustainable finance and address extreme plastic leakage into nature and oceans.
A shared objective of the projects and KOLEKT is to improve informal waste collector’s livelihoods. By digitising the process of recording transactions, Plastic Collective can onboard, monitor and pay bonuses to waste collectors on a monthly basis.
There are approximately 20 million people who collect plastic waste operating around the world. The projects supported by this bond are being certified under the Verra Plastic Waste Reduction Standard and will also register with the Verified Carbon Standard and the newly launched Zero Plastic Oceans Plus Social Welfare Certification, which require 10% higher fees to be paid to collectors.
“The reward of the collaboration with Plastic Collective for Kolekt is the recognition that we deliver a traceability system that operates in tough street-level connectivity conditions, across languages, mobile networks and meets tight international compliance. Compliance with Verra, OBP and World Bank standards.” Thierry Sanders, KOLEKT Founder / CEO.
Today an estimated 78 million tonnes of mismanaged plastic waste leaks into nature and oceans every year and a further 318 million tonnes goes unrecycled into landfill and incineration (OECD). The emergence of plastic credits, most of which require the kind of diligent book-keeping and transparency offered by KOLEKT, coupled with continuing education and effort to cut plastic use offer a prime opportunity to tackle this pressing environmental and social challenge.
“Kolekt is a perfect fit for our needs, which are to ensure full compliance and traceability of our plastic recovery projects per the terms of the World Bank Plastic Waste Reduction Linked Bond. Through this collaboration we also hope to enhance investor confidence in the plastic waste management asset class which is severely under-funded. We love that Kolekt has been built from the waste picker level up, facilitating both full volume traceability and fair waste picker compensation.” Steve Hardman, CEO, Plastic Collective.
The projects benefiting from record digitisation include two plastic waste collection and recycling projects in Accra, Ghana and Surabaya, Indonesia respectively.
In Ghana the partner is the ASASE Foundation, a community-based plastic waste collection and recycling project established in 2019. The project involves starting small recycling plants as social enterprises in communities where plastic pollution is most severe, and empowering women entrepreneurs to build their own plastic waste collection businesses as a sustainable source of income and employment.
The partner In Indonesia is SEArcular by Greencore, a plastic waste collection and recycling plant established in 2018. It empowers coastal communities by providing training, employment and offering price premiums for the ocean bound plastic they collect. SEArcular focuses on providing an appropriate end of life for more difficult to recycle plastic types.
