Computer Services Business challenge With the level of plastic waste entering the world’s oceans set to double by 2025, how could The Plastic Bank empower the world’s poorest to help in the fight against ocean plastic? “Thanks to IBM, we are transforming the lives of millions of the most disadvantaged people on earth, and realizing our vision for cleaner oceans.” —David Katz, CEO, The Plastic Bank Transformation As scientists predict more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050, what can we do to protect the natural world? Working with IBM and service provider Cognition Foundry, The Plastic Bank is mobilizing recycling entrepreneurs from amongst the world’s poorest communities to clean up plastic waste in return for life-changing goods. David Katz CEO, The Plastic Bank The Plastic Bank Tackling ocean plastic and global poverty with blockchain-based token rewards Business benefits Creates secure asset-backed rewards to underpin the exchange of plastic waste for goods Sparks massive expansion from startup to global platform for cleaner oceans Enables the most disadvantaged to transcend poverty as recycling entrepreneurs Solution components IBM Blockchain IBM® LinuxONE™ Ubuntu Server on LinuxONE Client Name The Plastic Bank Company Background Based in Vancouver, Canada, The Plastic Bank is a social enterprise that aims to use recycling to reduce ocean plastic and global poverty. Set up in May 2013, the social enterprise has been featured on over 200 media outlets, including the BBC, Forbes and TIME. Operations in Haiti launched in 2015, following pilots in Peru and Colombia. Cognition Foundry is a UK-based managed services provider and systems integrator specializing in cognitive solutions and cloud platforms powered by advanced IBM and open-source technology. Business challenge With the level of plastic waste entering the world’s oceans set to double by 2025, how could The Plastic Bank empower the world’s poorest to help in the fight against ocean plastic? Transformation As scientists predict more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050, what can we do to protect the natural world? Working with IBM and service provider Cognition Foundry, The Plastic Bank is mobilizing recycling entrepreneurs from amongst the world’s poorest communities to clean up plastic waste in return for life-changing goods. Results With secure token rewards underpinning its operations, The Plastic Bank is expanding globally to stop the build-up of ocean plastic and help the world’s most disadvantaged transcend poverty. Pull Quote "Thanks to IBM, we are transforming the lives of millions of the most disadvantaged people on earth, and realizing our vision for cleaner oceans." —David Katz, CEO, The Plastic Bank Case study Link https://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?htmlfid=LUC12351USEN Based in Vancouver, Canada, The Plastic Bank is a social enterprise that aims to use recycling to reduce ocean plastic and global poverty. Set up in May 2013, the social enterprise has been featured on over 200 media outlets, including the BBC, Forbes and TIME. Operations in Haiti launched in 2015, following pilots in Peru and Colombia. Share this LUP12390-USEN-00