Fighting poverty and ocean plastic. Together
8 million metric tons. That’s how much plastic waste enters the Earth’s oceans every year, damaging the world’s ecosystems.
Back in 2018, SC Johnson and Plastic Bank joined forces. Through our global partnership, we’re working to help keep plastic out of the seas, while combating poverty at the same time. Together, we continued to make real progress throughout 2020.
Bettering people and planet
In many villages, towns and cities around the world, trash gathers in roads, alleys and other places and gets washed away by the rain. In some locations where there are no other options available, trash is even thrown directly into waterways. Many communities around the world simply don’t have the formal infrastructure in place for waste collection, let alone recycling. This is one of the main reasons why plastic finds its way into oceans and waterways.
We partnered with Plastic Bank to help expand a recycling ecosystem that pays collectors a premium for the plastic they gather — giving disadvantaged communities new economic opportunities, as well as an incentive to better the planet. SC Johnson and Plastic Bank made a commitment to open over 500 plastic collection points. We’re glad to say we’ve already made significant progress toward keeping plastic out of the seas.
SC Johnson & Plastic Bank
The impact so far
1. A 3-year global partnership
2. Started in 2018
3. 317 collection points and centers opened, and counting
4. 17,549 registered plastic collectors
5. 11.86 million kg plastic collected
Our focus
6. 509 plastic collection points
7. 30 million kg plastic collected
“These Mr Muscle® bottles are our latest effort to incorporate post-consumer recycled waste into our packaging. Together with Plastic Bank, we’re working to help protect the health of our ocean ecosystems and at the same time improve the lives of individuals around the world.”
Fisk Johnson - Chairman and CEO, SC Johnson
Rawan has been collecting plastic for 19 years but for most of that time he wasn’t receiving a fair wage. He didn’t have a way to know how much he was collecting, or what different types of plastic were worth. He’d sell his collected plastic to middlemen, but pay was often unreliable.
Working with Plastic Bank has brought positive change for Rawan. Now, the transactions are digitized. He knows exactly how much he’s earning and why, and he doesn’t have to do other jobs to make ends meet.
Cleaner oceans and more prosperous communities
Since 2019, SC Johnson and Plastic Bank have opened more than 250 plastic collection points in Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil. So far, collectors have gathered over 11 million kilograms of plastic that might otherwise have ended up in the sea.
Over 17,000 individuals are registered members of the program, exchanging plastic waste for income. Plastic Bank estimates that, when you take into account collectors’ families and other dependents, more than 58,000 people are benefiting from our partnership.
Many of the collectors are women who are able to earn an income that provides more independence and helps support their families.
“Our partnership with SC Johnson is an important step in ocean stewardship. By supporting the collection of plastic waste and use of 100% recycled ocean-bound plastic in their bottles, they are enabling people to make a profound impact on the world.”
David Katz - Founder and CEO, Plastic Bank
100% recycled ocean-bound plastic bottles
The story doesn’t end there. The collected plastic is being recycled and incorporated into new bottles for SC Johnson products. Since 2019, our Windex® brand has used 100% recycled ocean-bound plastic* in its trigger bottles in the U.S. and Canada, making it the first major home cleaning brand with a 100% recycled ocean-bound plastic bottle.
Ocean Bound Plastic, in partnership with Plastic Bank, is post-consumer recycled plastic collected within 30 miles of an ocean or a waterway leading to an ocean, in countries with high volumes of uncollected plastic waste, which has been discarded or would otherwise be discarded into the environment.
*Recyclable plastic bottles made of 100% ocean-bound plastic. Ocean Bound Plastic, in partnership with Plastic Bank, is postconsumer recycled plastic collected within 30 miles of an ocean or a waterway leading to an ocean, in countries with high volumes of uncollected plastic waste, which has been discarded or would otherwise be discarded into the environment.