Plastic Bank and rePurpose collector schemes
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
- Company or project Plastic Bank: More than 160 million kg collected by April 2025; collectors are paid an above-market price.
- Company or project SC Johnson: Its partnership with Plastic Bank accounts for more than 20 million kg (1 billion bottles). SC Johnson
- Communities and civil society WWF: Does not recommend the terms “plastic neutral”, “plastic neutrality” or “net zero plastic”, calling them ambiguous and inherently misleading while a company sells plastic. WWF
Two companies pay people to collect plastic and sell the result to brands as plastic credits or recycled-content claims. Their collection totals are the companies' own figures; no independent audit was found.
Company claim. No independent audit found.
Status As of the latest sources reviewed (2025): the companies' collection totals are unaudited; no investigation of collector pay found.
- Plastic Bank and rePurpose Global (sellers); partner brands including Henkel and SC Johnson (claims) — Revenue and sustainability claims; amounts not disclosed in the sources reviewed
What happened
Plastic Bank is a company that pays collectors for plastic and sells the collected material to brands. According to Henkel, its partnership with Plastic Bank began in 2017 in Haiti, was extended for five years in 2019, and later covered the Philippines, Indonesia and Egypt. SC Johnson has said its partnership covers more than 300 collection points in the Philippines, Indonesia and Brazil.
Plastic Bank has claimed that more than 160 million kg of plastic had been collected by April 2025. SC Johnson has claimed that its partnership with Plastic Bank accounted for more than 20 million kg, equal to 1 billion bottles. Plastic Bank pays collectors in bonuses. The sources reviewed record the bonus as about PHP 8–15 per kg in the Philippines (Inquirer, 2023) and BRL 0.35 per kg in Brazil. The company describes its price as above market; that description is the company's own and has not been independently checked.
rePurpose Global sells plastic credits. The European Investment Bank described a credit price of about USD 0.50 per kg in a story on an Indian plastic project; rePurpose's own business page states about USD 0.25 per lb of footprint. Neither price has been independently verified.
WWF's revised 2025 position on plastic crediting says it does not recommend the terms “plastic neutral”, “plastic neutrality” or “net zero plastic”, which it calls ambiguous and inherently misleading while a company sells plastic. The UK Food Standards Agency has no agreed definition of “ocean plastic”-type claims, and Changing Markets describes such claims as a common form of greenwashing.
The sources reviewed contain no independent audit of Plastic Bank's collection figures and no investigation of what collectors are paid.
- 2017Henkel partnership with Plastic Bank begins, starting in Haiti
- 2019Henkel extends the partnership by five years; later covers the Philippines, Indonesia and Egypt
- 2023Inquirer reports collector bonus of about PHP 8–15 per kg in the Philippines
- 2025Plastic Bank claims more than 160 million kg collected (April); WWF publishes revised plastic crediting position
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
More than 160 million kg collected by April 2025; collectors are paid an above-market price.
Its partnership with Plastic Bank accounts for more than 20 million kg (1 billion bottles).
SC JohnsonDoes not recommend the terms “plastic neutral”, “plastic neutrality” or “net zero plastic”, calling them ambiguous and inherently misleading while a company sells plastic.
WWFHow it looked
Shown
- More than 160 million kg of plastic collected by April 2025Plastic Bank (company claim)
- More than 20 million kg (1 billion bottles) collected through the SC Johnson partnershipSC Johnson (company claim) · SC Johnson
- More than 300 collection points in the Philippines, Indonesia and BrazilSC Johnson (company claim)
- Collectors paid an above-market pricePlastic Bank (self-verified claim)
Recorded
- Collector bonus of about PHP 8–15 per kg in the Philippines (Inquirer, 2023) and BRL 0.35 per kg in Brazil
- No independent audit of Plastic Bank's collection totals found in the sources reviewed
- No investigation of collector pay found in the sources reviewed
- WWF does not recommend the terms “plastic neutral”, “plastic neutrality” or “net zero plastic”
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- plastic-bank (2025): Claims more than 160 million kg collected by April 2025; says it pays an above-market price (self-verified).
- sc-johnson: Claims its Plastic Bank partnership accounts for more than 20 million kg, equal to 1 billion bottles. · SC Johnson
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
- Disputed Are the collection totals real and is collector pay above market?
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Figures
- Insufficient Collector bonus philippines: Reported by Inquirer (2023); not independently verified.
- Insufficient Collector bonus brazil: Reported; not independently verified.
- Insufficient Credit price repurpose: EIB story on an Indian plastic project; not independently verified.
Record
- None on record No independent audit of Plastic Bank's collection claims has been found in the sources reviewed.
- None on record No investigation of collector pay has been found; the claim that collectors receive an above-market price is the company's own.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the collector bonus rates (about PHP 8–15 per kg in the Philippines; BRL 0.35 per kg in Brazil).
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: rePurpose Global's credit price of about USD 0.50 per kg (EIB story) and about USD 0.25 per lb of footprint (rePurpose's own page).
- Not disclosed Plastic Bank's revenue, the price brands pay, and certification fees are not disclosed in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not on record. The sources reviewed do not describe any halt to the schemes.
Who paid?
Not established in the sources reviewed. Brands pay for the material or credits; the prices are not disclosed except the figures noted above.
Sources
Company or project
- Plastic Bank stops 2 billion bottlesSC Johnson ·
- Plastic Bank partnershipHenkel ·
Government and regulators
- Indian plastic solutionEuropean Investment Bank ·
Communities and civil society
Standard-setters and registries
- OBP Ocean Bound Plastic certificationControl Union ·
Connected cases
- AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) Africa (13 focus countries) · 2006
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Former employer of AGRA's president
- Alter do Chão and Dia do Fogo fire allegations Brazil · 2019–2024
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Named in an allegation of financing fires; the allegation was found false
- Bhutan constitutional forest rule and Bhutan for Life Bhutan · 2008
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Partner in Bhutan for Life
- Kaziranga shoot-on-sight killings (India) India · 2013–2017
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Five WWF India employees listed as an expert panel on the 2014 strategy proposal (BuzzFeed News)
- Mekong sand mining (Cambodia, Vietnam) Cambodia and Vietnam · 2007–2026
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: NGO; sand budget and ten-year stock estimate for the delta
- Messok Dja ecoguard abuses (Republic of Congo) Republic of Congo · 2008–2020
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Supported the ecoguards (ETIC/TRIDOM programme); appointed the review panel
- Nature Conservancy began $10 million partnership with Dow Chemical in 2011 United States · 2007–2021
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: conservation group; relationship with Coca-Cola
- Nepal community forestry Nepal · 2000–2026
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Lead of the Hariyo Ban conservation programme in Nepal
- Pillay panel finds no proof WWF directed ranger abuses it supported Democratic Republic of the Congo · 2006–2020
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: NGO; funder and partner of the ranger units
- Plastic credits and Philippines PCX Philippines · 2020–2025
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Critic of plastic-neutral claims
- Russia declares WWF and Greenpeace 'undesirable' organisations Russia · 2023
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Designated undesirable on 21 June 2023
- Salonga National Park ranger abuses (DR Congo) DR Congo · 2002–2020
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Co-manager of Salonga National Park (since an August 2015 memorandum of understanding)
- TNC chief scientist urged conservation groups to partner with companies United States · 2011–2015
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Coca-Cola partner from 2007 (reported)
- WWF independent review (Pillay panel) and US funding suspension International · 2019–2020
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Commissioned the independent review; grantee under US review
- WWF Nepal Chitwan ranger death (Shikharam Chaudhary) Nepal · 2006–2020
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Conservation NGO; funder and supporter of ranger units
- WWF president Prince Bernhard resigned in 1976 after a Lockheed commission surfaced Netherlands · 1970–1976
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: charity whose president resigned
- WWF-funded ranger units accused of torture and killings in Asia and Africa Multiple countries · 2006–2023
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Funded and equipped the ranger units; commissioned the Pillay panel
- WWF-supported ecoguards in Cameroon and CAR (Lobéké, Dzanga-Sangha) Cameroon · 2008–2020
- WWF (NGO) — here: NGO; published position on plastic crediting; there: Trained and paid ecoguards in Lobéké; commissioned the independent panel