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Turning Plastic Trash into Cash

Can β€œsocial plastic” keep the oceans clean and fight poverty too?

Picking up money - that’s what Haitian’s nicknamed a movement seeking to solve Haiti’s plastic waste problem and reduce poverty at the same time. It was started by a man who saw a glimmer of hope in the devastation wrought by the 2010 earthquake: plastic bottles were clogging the beaches and filling the oceans with rubbish. But what if you could clear up the trash, give Haitians employment, and reduce the reliance on β€œvirgin” plastic, all at the same time? It’s a bold idea that aims to solve two of the World’s big problems – poverty and plastic in the ocean. And it all hinges on attaching social value to recycled plastic. So why aren’t more companies doing it?

Presenter: Sahar Zand
Reporter: Gemma Newby

(Image: Plastic rubbish on beach in Haiti, Credit: ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ)

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