Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Plastic waste and recycling claims · Philippines · 2020–2025

Plastic credits and Philippines PCX

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured. Disputed
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 5 none on record · 1 not measured · 2 disputed See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Do credits from plastic burned in cement kilns count as offsetting plastic?
  • Press and investigations SourceMaterial: More than 80% of the plastic collected by PCX goes to cement kilns; only 14% of PCX credits come from recycling. SourceMaterial
  • Communities and civil society Break Free From Plastic / GAIA: 22% of Verra projects and 86% of PCX projects send plastic to burning or kilns. Break Free From Plastic / GAIA
  • Standard-setters and registries Verra: Accepts energy recovery and cement-kiln burning as acceptable methods.
  • Communities and civil society WWF: Considers “plastic neutral” claims inherently misleading while a company continues to sell plastic.
  • Company or project Nestlé: Said it no longer buys plastic credits.

Plastic credits are sold by registries including Verra and the Philippines-based Plastic Credit Exchange. Investigations found that most plastic collected under the Philippine scheme went to cement kilns, and that Nestlé Philippines spent all of $732,900 on credits from burning.

$732,900Nestlé Philippines' spend on plastic credits, all from burning projects
Per SourceMaterial, 13 November 2023.

Status As of July 2025: an ADB fact sheet counted 60+ listed and 32 registered Verra plastic projects; Nestlé said it no longer buys plastic credits; no ruling or enforcement action is in the record.

What?
Investigations found most plastic collected under PCX went to cement kilns and that Nestlé Philippines spent all of $732,900 on burning credits. SourceMaterial
Where?
Philippines (PCX); registries and buyers in several countries. SourceMaterial
When?
2020–2025; main reports 13 November 2023, 29 November 2023, 22 April 2024 and 12 February 2025. SourceMaterial
Who?
Gained
  • Plastic credit sellers (PCX and project operators) — Sold credits at $115 (co-processing) to $130 and above (recycling); no totals for PCX or kiln operators were found. SourceMaterial
  • Nestlé Philippines and Century Pacific — Bought credits ($732,900 and about $1.1 million); Nestlé Philippines was described as “plastic neutral”. SourceMaterial
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Companies bought credits to support claims such as “plastic neutral”. SourceMaterial
How?
Plastic collected under credit schemes was sent in large part to cement kilns, and credits were issued for it. SourceMaterial
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Plastic credits are sold through several schemes, including Verra's plastic programme and the Plastic Credit Exchange (PCX) in the Philippines, which uses its own standard (PPRS). Prices across schemes range from about $100 to $1,600 per tonne, according to secondary reports. A Bloomberg research unit, BNEF, has estimated the market could reach $4.3 billion a year by 2050, as cited in secondary reports.

A white paper by Eunomia dated 22 April 2024 found that 64 projects in 25 countries had applied to Verra, of which 58 were listed (1.2 million tonnes) and 8 registered. Verra had issued 7,061 credits; 192 (2.7%) had been retired, all from the Second Life Thailand project, by five buyers: Vinventions, Bentley Motors, Escape Travel, GP-23 and PCX. The project founder reported a price of $500 a credit, implying about $96,000 in revenue. By July 2024, according to secondary reports, Verra had issued 10,146 credits, of which about 2% were sold; 76% were collection credits and 24% recycling credits.

On 13 November 2023 SourceMaterial reported that more than 80% of the plastic collected by PCX went to cement kilns and that only 14% of PCX credits came from recycling. Co-processing credits cost $115 and recycling credits from $130. Nestlé Philippines spent $732,900, all on credits from burning, and Century Pacific bought 15,461 credits (about $1.1 million) against a declared footprint of 10,378 tonnes. Break Free From Plastic and GAIA reported on 29 November 2023 that 22% of Verra projects and 86% of PCX projects sent plastic to burning or kilns.

On 12 February 2025 AFP and SourceMaterial reported an analysis of four registries, not named in the article, covering more than 125,000 tonnes of plastic: about a quarter was recycled and about two-thirds was burned in cement kilns or waste-to-energy plants. A secondary summary puts the burned or to-be-burned amount at about 84,000 tonnes of plastic and 237,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, and lists EY, Royal Caribbean and affiliates of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Colgate among the buyers.

Nestlé, which helped develop Verra's standard, said it no longer buys plastic credits. WWF considers “plastic neutral” claims inherently misleading while a company continues to sell plastic. According to secondary reports, Verra accepts energy recovery and cement-kiln burning as acceptable methods.

  1. 2023SourceMaterial reports on PCX, Verra and cement kilns (13 Nov); Break Free From Plastic / GAIA publish “Smoke and Mirrors” (29 Nov)
  2. 2024Eunomia white paper (22 Apr); 35 projects listed on PCX's marketplace (24 Jul); Verra has issued 10,146 credits, about 2% sold (Jul)
  3. 2025AFP and SourceMaterial analysis of four registries (12 Feb); ADB fact sheet counts 32 registered Verra plastic projects (29 Jul)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Do credits from plastic burned in cement kilns count as offsetting plastic?
Press and investigations
SourceMaterial

More than 80% of the plastic collected by PCX goes to cement kilns; only 14% of PCX credits come from recycling.

SourceMaterial
Communities and civil society
Break Free From Plastic / GAIA

22% of Verra projects and 86% of PCX projects send plastic to burning or kilns.

Break Free From Plastic / GAIA
Standard-setters and registries
Verra

Accepts energy recovery and cement-kiln burning as acceptable methods.

Communities and civil society
WWF

Considers “plastic neutral” claims inherently misleading while a company continues to sell plastic.

Company or project
Nestlé

Said it no longer buys plastic credits.

How large is Verra's plastic credit programme?
Researchers
Eunomia (April 2024)

64 projects had applied, 58 were listed and 8 registered; 7,061 credits issued, 192 retired.

Eunomia
Standard-setters and registries
Verra (undated page)

36 registered projects in 20 countries and more than 500,000 credits “approved”; “approved” is not the same as issued.

Verra
International bodies
Asian Development Bank fact sheet

60+ listed and 32 registered projects as of 29 July 2025.

Asian Development Bank

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • Nestlé Philippines described as “plastic neutral”
    Nestlé Philippines, as recorded by SourceMaterial (2020–24) · SourceMaterial
  • Verra's plastic programme has 36 registered projects in 20 countries and more than 500,000 credits “approved”; “approved” is not the same as issued.
    Verra (undated web page) · Verra

Recorded

  • More than 80% of plastic collected by PCX goes to cement kilns; 14% of PCX credits come from recycling.
    SourceMaterial
  • Nestlé Philippines spent $732,900, all on burning credits.
    SourceMaterial
  • 22% of Verra projects and 86% of PCX projects send plastic to burning or kilns.
    Break Free From Plastic / GAIA
  • About two-thirds of the plastic credited in four registries was burned in cement kilns or waste-to-energy plants; about a quarter was recycled.
    AFP and SourceMaterial
  • 7,061 Verra plastic credits issued by April 2024; 192 retired, all from one Thailand project, by five buyers.
    Eunomia
  • Holcim/Geocycle processed about 14 million tonnes of waste in 2023; no gate fees or revenue are published.
    Holcim

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: not stated. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • nestle (date not stated): Said it no longer buys plastic credits.
  • verra (date not stated): Accepts energy recovery and cement-kiln burning as acceptable methods in its plastic programme.
  • wwf (date not stated): Considers “plastic neutral” claims inherently misleading while the company continues to sell plastic.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Plastic sent to cement kilns
>80%
Share of plastic collected by PCX (SourceMaterial, Nov 2023)
Credits from recycling
14%
Share of PCX credits (SourceMaterial, Nov 2023)
Plastic burned in four registries
~2/3
More than 125,000 t analysed (AFP and SourceMaterial, Feb 2025)
Verra plastic credits sold
~2%
Of 10,146 issued by July 2024

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Key earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
  • Disputed Do credits from plastic burned in cement kilns count as offsetting plastic?

Accounts

  • Disputed How large is Verra's plastic credit programme?

Record

  • None on record The four registries in the AFP and SourceMaterial analysis are not named in the accessible text, and the original English AFP piece was not found.
  • None on record Verra's fee amounts per credit and the certification fees of other bodies were not found published.
  • None on record Holcim/Geocycle publishes no gate fees or revenue from waste processing.
  • None on record Verra's claim of more than 500,000 credits “approved” is undated, and “approved” is not the same as issued.
  • None on record The EY, Royal Caribbean, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Colgate affiliate buyer names are not confirmed in the sources reviewed; the underlying article could not be checked.

Did the harm stop?

Not established. Nestlé said it no longer buys plastic credits, but 35 projects were listed on PCX's marketplace on 24 July 2024 and an ADB fact sheet counted 32 registered Verra plastic projects as of 29 July 2025.

Who paid?

Credit buyers paid for the credits: Nestlé Philippines spent $732,900 and Century Pacific about $1.1 million, according to SourceMaterial.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society✓ Researchers✓ International bodies

Company or project

  2. Waste management
    Holcim · undated

Press and investigations

Communities and civil society

  1. Smoke and Mirrors: The Realities of Plastic Credits and Offsetting
    Break Free From Plastic / GAIA · 2023-11-29

Researchers

International bodies

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Carbon and conservation finance

Buffer pool
A reserve of credits held back from sale by a carbon programme to cover future losses, such as forest burned or logged after credits were issued. It works as the programme's own insurance.
Carbon credit
A certificate representing one tonne of carbon dioxide (or equivalent) that a project says it reduced, avoided or removed. Buyers use credits to balance their own emissions in climate claims.
Offset
Using carbon credits to balance emissions released elsewhere, so that a buyer can claim lower or zero net emissions.
REDD+
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation. A UN framework under which forest projects earn carbon credits for deforestation they say they prevented, measured against a projected baseline.
Retired credit
A credit that has been used to make a climate claim and is permanently removed from circulation in the registry.
Standard-setter and registry
An organisation that writes the rules for carbon credits, approves projects, and records when credits are issued and retired. Such bodies typically charge fees per credit.

Science and environment

Groundwater
Water held underground in soil and rock, drawn through wells.