Canada currently uses 4.6 million tonnes of plastics every year, which is roughly 125 kgs per person.
The average American generates roughly 130 kgs of plastic waste per year, totaling 35.7 million tons per year.
Regular recycling isn’t always convenient or available. The US recycling rate sits at 8.7%.
And in Canada, about 2.8 million tonnes of plastic waste ends up in Canadian landfills every year – equivalent to the weight of 24 CN towers.
There are many reasons why plastic recycling rates are so low, including incorrect or contaminated disposal and limited capabilities at recycling facilities. So even if you do put items in your recycle bin, they could potentially end up in the landfill or be shipped off to less affluent countries with poor waste management infrastructure for disposal, or they may end up in the ocean.
Eight million tonnes of plastic make their way into the oceans every year.
That’s the equivalent of one garbage trucks' worth of plastic entering the oceans every minute.
And 80% of that plastic waste comes from vulnerable coastal communities with poor waste management systems.
We’re stopping ocean plastic and improving lives with Plastic Bank®
To help tackle this problem, we’re proud to partner with Plastic Bank to fight ocean plastic and improve lives. Plastic Bank builds recycling ecosystems in coastal communities and reprocesses the materials for reintroduction into the global supply chain. Collectors receive bonuses for the materials they collect, which helps them provide basic family necessities such as groceries, cooking fuel, school tuition, and health insurance.
Plastic Bank’s Alchemy™ blockchain platform secures the entire transaction and provides real-time data visualization – allowing for transparency, traceability, and rapid scalability. Learn more at plasticbank.com.
Stopping Ocean Plastic
In 2020, Natreve prevented over 100 tonnes of ocean-bound plastic from reaching the oceans, equivalent to over 5 million single-use plastic bottles, in partnership with Plastic Bank. Starting in 2021, we’ve increased our efforts and will be working with Plastic Bank® to support impoverished communities to stop 600 tonnes, equivalent to 30 million plastic bottles, from entering the oceans by 2023.
This will make us Certified Plastic Neutral by Plastic Bank, meaning we are removing the equivalent amount of plastic we use in our products from our oceans.
What Does This Impact Look Like?
In a year our impact looks like...
That’s 200 tonnes (or 200,000 KGs) each year which is equal in weight to the yearly plastic consumption of roughly 200,000 Canadians (.65% of the adult population of Canada or 1.4% of the adult population in BC).
It’s also the weight of:
- A house
- A blue whale
- A locomotive train
- Statue of Liberty
In three years, our impact looks like...
Stacked end to end, 30 million bottles is the driving distance from Vancouver, BC to Thunder Bay ON and BACK!
And more than the driving distance from Los Angeles, CA to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, and BACK!
And over 7000 times taller than the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Improving Lives
In addition to stopping ocean plastic, we’re improving lives in vulnerable coastal communities in partnership with Plastic Bank.
As well as funding the collection of over 600 tonnes of plastic waste in 3 years, Natreve has activated a Plastic Bank collection branch in Indonesia. This branch will help to further improve the lives of collectors and their families by empowering them through training, supplying equipment, and setting up a collection point in their local community.
For more on our partnership with Plastic Bank check out our interview with Founder, David Katz.
You can also learn more about the impact Plastic Bank is making in the video below.
The ocean, with over 95% of the world’s water, is what connects us. We rely on it to regulate our climate and so much more. And it’s our responsibility to keep it clean.
We’re super proud of this partnership to stop ocean plastic and improve lives.
What Can You Do?
➔ Keep recycling
➔ If possible, decrease the amount of single-use plastic you use.
➔ Make conscious buying decisions.
➔ Contribute to organizations like Plastic Bank who is stopping ocean plastic and improving lives in vulnerable coastal communities.
Follow our sustainability journey and join our community here!
