TED@IBM
David Katz: The surprising solution to ocean plastic
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Can we solve the problem of ocean plastic pollution and end extreme poverty at the same time? That's the ambitious goal of The Plastic Bank: a worldwide chain of stores where everything from school tuition to cooking fuel and more is available for purchase in exchange for plastic garbage -- which is then sorted, shredded and sold to brands who reuse "social plastic" in their products. Join David Katz to learn more about this step towards closing the loop in the circular economy. "Preventing ocean plastic could be humanity's richest opportunity," Katz says.
David Katz - Plastics alchemist
David is founder and CEO of The Plastic Bank, the world’s only organization to monetize plastic waste and provide an opportunity for the world's disadvantaged to collect and trade plastic waste as a currency. Full bio
David is founder and CEO of The Plastic Bank, the world’s only organization to monetize plastic waste and provide an opportunity for the world's disadvantaged to collect and trade plastic waste as a currency. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
We've had it all wrong.
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Everybody.
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We've had it all wrong.
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The very last thing we need to do
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is clean the ocean.
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Very last.
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Yeah, there is a garbage truck of plastic
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entering the ocean
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every minute
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of every hour of every day.
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And countless birds and animals
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are dying just from encountering plastic.
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We are experiencing
the fastest rate of extinction ever,
the fastest rate of extinction ever,
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and plastic is in the food chain.
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And I'm still here,
standing in front of you,
standing in front of you,
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telling you the very last
thing we need to do
thing we need to do
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is clean the ocean.
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Very last.
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If you were to walk into a kitchen,
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sink overflowing,
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water spilling all over the floor,
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soaking into the walls,
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you had to think fast,
you're going to panic;
you're going to panic;
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you've got a bucket, a mop or a plunger.
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What do you do first?
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Why don't we turn off the tap?
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It would be pointless to mop
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or plunge or scoop up the water
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if we don't turn off the tap first.
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Why aren't we doing the same
for the ocean?
for the ocean?
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Even if the Ocean Cleanup project,
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beach plastic recycling programs
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or any well-meaning
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ocean plastic company
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was a hundred percent successful,
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it would still be too little, too late.
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We're trending to produce
over 300 million ton
over 300 million ton
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of plastic this year.
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Roughly eight million ton
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are racing to flow into the ocean
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to join the estimated
150 million ton already there.
150 million ton already there.
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Reportedly, 80 percent of ocean plastic
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is coming from those countries
that have extreme poverty.
that have extreme poverty.
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And if you live in the grips of poverty
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concerned, always, about food
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or shelter
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or a sense of security,
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recycling --
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it's beyond your realm of imagination.
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And that is exactly why
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I created the Plastic Bank.
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We are the world's largest chain of stores
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for the ultra-poor,
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where everything in the store
is available to be purchased
is available to be purchased
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using plastic garbage.
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Everything.
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School tuition.
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Medical insurance.
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Wi-Fi, cell phone minutes, power.
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Sustainable cooking fuel,
high-efficiency stoves.
high-efficiency stoves.
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And we keep wanting to add everything else
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that the world may need and can't afford.
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Our chain of stores in Haiti
are more like community centers,
are more like community centers,
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where one of our collectors,
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Lise Nasis,
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has the opportunity to earn a living
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by collecting material from door to door,
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from the streets,
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from business to business.
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And at the end of her day,
she gets to bring the material back to us,
she gets to bring the material back to us,
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where we weigh it,
we check it for quality,
we check it for quality,
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and we transfer the value
into her account.
into her account.
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Lise now has a steady,
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reliable source of income.
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And that value we transfer
into an online account for her.
into an online account for her.
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And because it's a savings account,
it becomes an asset
it becomes an asset
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that she can borrow against.
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And because it's online,
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she has security against robbery,
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and I think more importantly,
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she has a new sense of worth.
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And even the plastic
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has a new sense of value.
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Hm.
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And that plastic we collect,
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and we add value to,
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we sort it,
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we remove labels,
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we remove caps.
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We either shred it
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or we pack it into bales
and get it ready for export.
and get it ready for export.
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Now, it's no different
than walking over acres of diamonds.
than walking over acres of diamonds.
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If Lise was to walk over acres of diamonds
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but there was no store, no bank,
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no way to use the diamonds,
no way to exchange them,
no way to exchange them,
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they'd be worthless, too.
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And Lise was widowed
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after the 2010 Haitian earthquake,
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left homeless without an income.
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And as a result of the program,
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Lise can afford her two
daughters' school tuition
daughters' school tuition
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and uniforms.
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Now, that plastic
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we sell.
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We sell it to suppliers of great brands
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like Marks and Spencer,
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who have commissioned
the use of social plastic
the use of social plastic
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in their products.
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Or like Henkel,
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the German consumer-goods company,
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who are using social plastic
directly into their manufacturing.
directly into their manufacturing.
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We've closed the loop
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in the circular economy.
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Now buy shampoo
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or laundry detergent
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that has social plastic packaging,
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and you are indirectly contributing
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to the extraction of plastic
from ocean-bound waterways
from ocean-bound waterways
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and alleviating poverty
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at the same time.
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And that model
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is completely replicable.
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In São Paulo,
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a church sermon encourages parishioners
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to not just bring offering on Sunday,
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but the recycling, too.
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We then match the church with the poor.
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Or, I believe more powerfully,
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we could match a mosque in London
with an impoverished church in Cairo.
with an impoverished church in Cairo.
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Or like in Vancouver,
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with our bottle-deposit program:
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now any individual
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or any group
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can now return
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their deposit-refundable recyclables,
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and instead of taking back the cash,
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they have the opportunity
to deposit that value
to deposit that value
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into the account of the poor
around the world.
around the world.
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We can now use our recycling
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to support and create recyclers.
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One bottle deposited at home
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could help extract
hundreds around the world.
hundreds around the world.
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Or, like Shell,
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the energy company,
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who's invested in our
plastic-neutral program.
plastic-neutral program.
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Plastic neutrality is like carbon-neutral.
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But plastic neutrality invests
in recycling infrastructure
in recycling infrastructure
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where it doesn't exist.
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And it provides an incentive for the poor
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by providing a price increase.
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Or --
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like in the slums of Manila,
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where the smallest market
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with a simple scale and a phone
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can now accept social plastic
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as a new form of payment by weight,
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allowing them to serve more people
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and have their own greater social impact.
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And what's common here
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is that social plastic
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is money.
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Social plastic is money,
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a globally recognizable and tradable
currency that, when used,
currency that, when used,
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alleviates poverty
and cleans the environment
and cleans the environment
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at the same time.
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It's not just plastic.
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It's not recycled plastic,
it's social plastic,
it's social plastic,
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a material whose value is transferred
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through the lives
of the people who encounter it,
of the people who encounter it,
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rich and poor.
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Humans have produced
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over eight trillion kilograms of plastic,
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most of it still here as waste.
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Eight trillion kilograms.
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Worth roughly 50 cents a kilo,
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we're potentially unleashing
a four-trillion-dollar value.
a four-trillion-dollar value.
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See, I see social plastic
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as the Bitcoin for the earth --
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(Laughter)
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and available for everyone.
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Now the entire ecosystem
is managed and supported
is managed and supported
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through an online banking platform
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that provides for the safe,
authentic transfer of value globally.
authentic transfer of value globally.
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You can now deposit your recyclables
in Vancouver or Berlin,
in Vancouver or Berlin,
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and a family could withdraw
building bricks or cell phone minutes
building bricks or cell phone minutes
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in the slums of Manila.
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Or Lise --
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she could deposit recycling
at a center in Port-au-Prince,
at a center in Port-au-Prince,
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and her mother could withdraw
cooking fuel or cash
cooking fuel or cash
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across the city.
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And the app adds rewards,
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incentives,
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group prizes,
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user rating.
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We've gamified recycling.
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We add fun and formality
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into an informal industry.
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We're operating in Haiti
and the Philippines.
and the Philippines.
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We've selected staff
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and partners for Brazil.
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And this year, we're committing
to India and Ethiopia.
to India and Ethiopia.
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We're collecting hundreds
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and hundreds of tons of material.
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We continue to add partners
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and customers,
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and we increase our collection
volumes every day.
volumes every day.
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Now as a result
of our program with Henkel,
of our program with Henkel,
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they've committed to use
over 100 million kilograms
over 100 million kilograms
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of material every year.
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That alone will put
hundreds of millions of dollars
hundreds of millions of dollars
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into the hands of the poor
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in the emerging economies.
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And so now,
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we can all
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be a part of the solution
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and not the pollution.
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And so, OK, maybe
cleaning the ocean is futile.
cleaning the ocean is futile.
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It might be.
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But preventing ocean plastic
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could be humanity's richest opportunity.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
David Katz - Plastics alchemistDavid is founder and CEO of The Plastic Bank, the world’s only organization to monetize plastic waste and provide an opportunity for the world's disadvantaged to collect and trade plastic waste as a currency.
Why you should listen
David Katz is the founder and CEO of The Plastic Bank, an internationally recognized solution to ocean plastic. The Plastic Bank is a global network of micro-recycling markets that empower the poor to transcend poverty by cleaning the environment. It's an eco-system that provides an opportunity for the world to collect and trade plastic waste as a currency. Global partners include IBM, Shell Energy and Henkel.
Katz is the recipient of the 2017 United Nations Lighthouse award for Planetary Health, recipient of the Paris Climate Conference Sustainia community award, is the Past President of the Vancouver Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), and named the Entrepreneur Organizations, Global Citizen. He has also been named one of the world’s most compassionate entrepreneurs by Salt magazine.
His humanitarian work has earned him international recognition. Katz has been featured in Forbes, TIME Magazine, Fast Company and National Geographic. He's featured in an award-winning documentary and starred in an international reality television show. David is a steward of the earth and a champion for the poor.
David Katz | Speaker | TED.com