WANT TO THROW THE PLANET A LIFELINE?

You’ve stopped using plastic straws and cotton buds, and it’s been ages since you thoughtlessly grabbed a plastic shopping bag. You choose recyclable or recycled plastic when you can, and you’re diligent in your use of the municipal recycling bins. But there's more you can do. You can actively be part of the SOLUTION...

What's the Story?

On a global level, we’re still producing 15 times more ‘virgin’ plastic than recycled. And Australia’s good neighbour (and everyone's favourite holiday desto), Southeast Asia, is particularly severely impacted. 

PlastX is an Australian start-up, working in plastic Circular Economy in Asia. We have a sustainable solution for the large-scale collection and reprocessing of plastic waste. Following a successful trial program in India, PlastX is now committed to running a live pilot in Southeast Asia in April 2023. BUT WE NEED YOUR HELP.

OK… just refresh my memory... Circular Economy??? 

Circular Economy is the cornerstone of sustainability. For a truly CIRCULAR economy to exist, material needs to be collected, recycled, remanufactured, and then re-utilised in a continuous circle of use. Clean-up programmes and recycling drives are fantastic, but unless someone wants the collected plastic, they only solve half the problem. Aussie readers will likely be familiar with the demise of the RedCycle program. It was a lack of demand for the collected material that resulted in plastic being stockpiled, and which ultimately led to the program's downfall.

PlastX turns the issue of plastic recycling on its head by STARTING with demand – and then collecting plastic to fulfill that demand. With PlastX, 100% of the plastic that's collected, is recycled.

Got it! But why Asia? 

PlastX has been specifically designed to operate in countries where municipal infrastructure (like the kind of waste collection we enjoy here in Australia) is absent, or inadequate. In much of Asia, recyclable material is collected by informal workers, who sell to local scrap dealers. The plastic is subsequently traded through networks of middlemen (each taking a commission, naturally), until it is finally sold to a recycler.

As a supply chain, it’s convoluted, expensive, and inefficient – and if you look under the bonnet, there are darker forces at play, involving child exploitation and modern slavery.

So, how does PlastX change that? 

By shining a light on the process. Collectors are required to register first (providing photo ID), and we only accept people of legal working age, so no children are involved.  Then, we use Blockchain-like tech to digitally (and physically) record each step in the collection process. 

Bypassing the layers of middlemen means that the supply chain is streamlined and efficient, and there is more money to pay Collectors. (PlastX Collectors can earn 40 – 50% more than they would trading through the existing channels).

PlastX provides businesses with an ethical, traceable source of Post Consumer Recovered plastic (PCR) – for which there’s HUGE demand in Asia. 

Then what’s the problem? 

We’ve already trialled the PlastX program in India with a small but enthusiastic group of collectors. They adopted the PlastX tech easily, and demonstrated that they could collect plastic to specification... 

Now, we need to take the program to the next level: test our ability to recruit collectors, run the tech under pressure, and deliver quality material in full, on time. But, after more than three years of bootstrapping PlastX, we founders are scarily low on cash. To pull this off, WE NEED YOUR HELP.

We have costed the PlastX Project at AUD$10,000.

Anticipating an intensive 3-4 week program, $10,000 will enable us to sublet a humble space to act as our ‘hub’ – which is where we weigh & check collected plastic (OPERATIONS: 27%), and engage a small, dedicated local team to help run it (TEAM: 19%); It will facilitate cash payments to our Collectors and cover logistical costs of getting the plastic to our recycler (WORKING CAPITAL: 17%); It will provide tech support for the app (TECH: 21%); and ensure we have the appropriate local permits to operate (REGULATORY & CERTIFICATION: 11%). 

Importantly, it will also assist one of the founder team to be on the ground throughout the project, to ensure smooth delivery of the program, and to understand and troubleshoot any problems that might arise.  

PlastX is not a charity, or a not-for-profit. 

In time, we expect PlastX to be a viable, thriving Circular Economy business. The founders, Trish, Murray and Gillian, are all experienced business people, with demonstrated  success in Packaging & Sustainability, Supply Chain Management, and Entrepreneurship. 

In our three years developing PlastX, we have never paid ourselves a wage, and have in fact self-funded most of the costs of development. Please help us make the PlastX Project, SEA a success.