Case Study: Plastic Bank achieves scalable transparency and global impact with IBM technology

Cleaning up the planet and empowering people to lift themselves out of poverty

Plastic Bank, a social enterprise founded to reduce ocean plastic while helping people lift themselves out of poverty, needed technology it could trust to scale its ethical recycling network fast. Working with IBM and Cognition Foundry, it sought to build a transparent, globally scalable system for tracking plastic collection, rewards, and social impact.

IBM implemented a blockchain-based platform on a hybrid cloud infrastructure using IBM LinuxONE and IBM Cloud. The solution created a secure, real-time audit trail across the supply chain and supported new app features and community programs; IBM’s technology helped Plastic Bank grow to more than 280 locations, complete over 100,000 transactions, and recover over 11 million kilograms of ocean-bound plastic while empowering thousands of people.

Plastic Bank

Shaun Frankson

Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer