Non-profit organization PCX Markets created a multi-pronged solution called “credits,” encouraging private sector investment in waste management infrastructure to battle global plastic pollution.
Comprised of upstream reduction, innovation and market-based mechanisms, it activates an ecosystem of partners who collect, transport and responsibly process plastic waste, while supporting the affected communities.
“The plastic crisis is so vast that we need all solutions working in parallel—upstream reduction, a functional circular economy, scaled next-gen alternatives, and ready-made, accessible solutions to legacy plastic waste like plastic credits,” PCX Markets CEO Sebastian DiGrande said.
“When tackling a challenge of this size, we should be thinking in terms of ‘and’ rather than ‘or’ and considering the role all types of funding solutions can play.”
Through the credit-based solution, companies are invited to fund downstream plastic waste recovery projects through purchasing credits issued by projects that want to raise funds to expand its capacity.
One credit cleans up one metric ton of plastic pollution and the impact is delivered immediately and verified by a third-party auditor.
“Reduction is the first step. And a market-based mechanism like credits, which facilitates the cleanup of plastic waste and encourages the private sector to make investments into waste infrastructure, is an important tool in the arsenal in the fight against plastic pollution,” Nanette Medved-Po, founder of the organization, said.
According the a world wide fund study, the root cause of the problem all leads to the lack of waste management infrastructure, waste colonialism, and the proliferation of single-use plastics such as sachets.
“About 74% of plastics that leak into the ocean in the Philippines were initially collected but escaped from open landfills that are located near vulnerable waterways,” the study reported.
However, the problem can still be addressed and reverted through a collaborative effort, according to a BloombergNEF’s report, a research organization.
It has stated that such mechanism could help tackle close to 30% of mismanaged waste and could divert 9.6 million metric tons of plastic scrap back to recycling value chains by 2050.
“Plastic credits have the potential to make a significant impact in cleaning up legacy plastic waste while contributing to the financing of recycling infrastructure, especially in developing markets,” it added.
To date, PCX has announced that it has financed the diversion of 100 million kilograms of mixed plastic waste from nature equivalent to 6.6 billion 15 gram plastic bottles, enough to circle the earth 25 times, marking a rise of 34% total impact delivered since 2024.
Since December 2023, it tallied 34 projects, a 29% increase that divert and responsibly process plastic waste in 11 worldwide markets issued by 21 different project partners.
The non-profit organization currently offers 250 million kilograms of cleanup and processing capacity from project partners who meet the world’s most stringent plastic credit standards, making it a global market leader.
Recently, it added ten collection recycling and upcycling projects, including several from new markets such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cambodia, Malaysia and Australia, to its marketplace since the start of the year.
The CEO of the organization underscored the willingness of their project partners to help in addressing the plastic waste crisis and how it could impact the global environment.
“We’re inspired by our mission-driven project partners, who are delivering environmental and social impact in communities that have been hardest hit by the plastic waste crisis, and by the brands who’ve chosen to tackle this urgent issue,” DiGrande said.
The United Nations is also working towards a global plastic treaty to be completed this December, estimating that the world needs $1.64 trillion to beat plastic pollution by 2040.
In a recent report on plastic credits, the World Bank suggests that negotiators consider plastic crediting as a tool to support financing of core obligations.
“We are on the cusp of historic change. The work of the UN on a global treaty to end plastic pollution has created a shared awareness across the public and private sector that we have to move quickly to tackle this crisis,” Medved-Po said.
PCX Solutions is a non-proft organization headquartered in Manila that works with governments and private companies around the world to help them understand the global impact of their plastic footprint and encourages implementing reduction strategies like recycling infrastructure to increase socio-economic benefits for affected communities.
