Humanity is racing to produce over 350 billion kilograms of plastic this year alone, and between 8-12 billion kilograms is likely going to flow into the ocean to meet the 150 billion kilograms that is already there.
According to David Katz, most of the plastic waste is coming from areas of extreme poverty.
In 2013, Katz alongside Shaun Frankston founded Vancouver-based Plastic Bank with the idea of tackling two problems: Waste plastics in the ocean and poverty.
Speaking at IBM Think in Sydney during its Good Tech keynote, Katz detailed Plastic Bank’s mission to stop ocean plastic by gathering a billion people together to monetise waste while improving lives.
“I support straw bans, certainly we have to be able to reduce single-use material, that is imperative … but we have to know that most of the plastic that turns up in the ocean is coming from areas like [Port-au-Prince in Haiti] — one of the poorest countries in the world,” Katz explained.
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