Plastic Bank is a social enterprise that is helping the world stop ocean-bound plastic while improving the lives of collector communities. Founder and CEO, David Katz, discovered plastic bags, bottles and straws while scuba diving and was inspired to take action. In 2013, together with Shaun Frankson, he founded the company. Plastic Bank builds ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities, and reprocesses the materials for reintroduction into the global manufacturing supply chain.
Plastic waste is one of the biggest global challenges. As part of Henkel’s ambitious packaging targets for 2025, the company wants to promote a circular economy and contribute to avoiding plastic waste being disposed in the environment. Therefore, Henkel is supporting waste collection and recycling initiatives and investing in innovative solutions and technologies to promote closed-loop recycling.
In 2017, Henkel became the first major global consumer goods company to work with the social enterprise Plastic Bank. Together, we are addressing both environmental and social challenges to reduce plastic waste.
“Plastic waste ending in the environment is one of the greatest global challenges. The search for solutions is well underway, and our packaging experts are working intensively to deliver on our ambitious targets,” says Sylvie Nicol, Executive Vice President Human Resources at Henkel and Chair of Henkel’s Sustainability Council. “To drive further progress and promote a circular economy, we are working closely together with our partners along the entire value chain.”
Plastic waste ending in the environment is one of the greatest global challenges. The search for solutions is well underway, and our packaging experts are working intensively to deliver on our ambitious targets.”
Sylvie Nicol, Executive Vice President Human Resources at Henkel and Chair of Henkel’s Sustainability Council
Turning waste into opportunities - Who is Plastic Bank?
Henkel started working with Plastic Bank in 2017, and it was the first major global consumer goods company to partner with Plastic Bank. In 2019, we extended this partnership by a further five years. Plastic Bank establishes waste collection branches in countries that lack adequate waste management infrastructure, like Egypt. As of 2023, there were 24 collection centers operating around Cairo, along the Nile River, and in Red Sea vacation hotspots. Collectors receive a premium for the materials they collect, which helps them provide basic family necessities such as groceries, cooking fuel, school tuition, and health insurance. Plastic Bank is revealing the value in plastic waste – and stopping it before it reaches waterways and oceans.
What happens with the collected plastic waste?
The plastic that is collected at the collection centers is sorted and can subsequently be reintroduced into the recycling value chain as Social Plastic®. Social Plastic® has been verified by Plastic Bank to indicate that the collectors received an above-market price for the plastic waste. This can enable single mothers, for example, to support their families and pay for their children to attend school. Social Plastic® can be used in products or packaging, contributing to a closed loop material cycle. Henkel uses Social Plastic® in the packaging for a number of products in its hair and body care brand Nature Box, as well as for selected Clin pro nature products in Austria and Vernel products in Germany.
