THE CRISIS

The Crisis

Our Planet Needs Us

Today, more and more items that we purchase include plastic as a primary material. While it is affordable, durable, safe and convenient, we never really thought about what to do with it after we’re done using it. Since the 1950s, the world’s plastic consumption has more than doubled. It’s choking up the planet faster than we can get rid of it.

The global plastic debt is
over 9 billion tons,
and counting

If nothing is done, by the year 2050

there will be more plastic than fish in the sea.

And once macroplastics become microplastics, they are almost impossible to clean up.

Position Papers

We Can Be the Generation That Solves the Plastic Pollution Crisis.

As of today, only 7.2% of the global economy is considered circular, accounting for all materials cycled back into the economy after the end of life. To raise this figure by an order of magnitude we must take action today and utilize all of the tools in our toolbox in a clearly orchestrated way. Read our position paper on plastic credits here.

FAQ

More on
Plastic Pollution

What is plastic pollution and how does it affect our environment? Why is it important now?

Why can’t we get rid of all plastic today?

What does poverty have to do with the plastic pollution problem?

How does plastic pollution affect climate change?

More on
Plastic Credits

How do plastic credits help fight the plastic pollution crisis?

What is a plastic credit?

How do plastic credits work?

How do plastic credits differ to carbon credits?

What is additionality, and how does PCX Markets ensure projects don’t ‘double count’ the plastic they clean up?

How do plastic credits finance recycling and upcycling infrastructure?

How much do plastic credits cost?

Some companies who buy credits aim to offset their plastic footprint by funding cleanup - but doesn’t that allow polluters to avoid reducing the plastic they use?

Why do we need plastic credits? Why can’t governments fund the collection and processing of plastic waste, along with other types of waste management?

What is co-processing, and why does PCX sell co-processing credits?

More on
PCX Markets

How do I know I can trust you guys?

How will PCX make its certification meaningful and important to my customers?

What is PCX’s end goal?

Who is behind PCX?

I still have questions about PCX – how can I get in touch?

Glossary

Aggregators

An individual, a group of individuals, or an organization (government or non-government) who collects post-consumer plastic waste and forwards this to Processors.

Assessment

Process of quantifying the plastic footprint of a given entity through a third-party independent auditor, using transparent methods that are consistent for all organizations.

Auditor

A qualified individual or an entity who is tasked to perform an Assessment or process review of any Partner, Aggregators, or Processors.

Awarded Plastic Credit

A plastic credit purchased and assigned to a Sustainability Partner, or credit purchaser, and registered in the public registry.

Claim

A declaration by a company regarding their impact - or the amount of plastic they have helped clean up via credit purchases - whether through self-declaration or external party certification.

Effective Date

Refers to the date a certification takes place.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

An environmental policy approach in which a producer’s responsibility for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a product’s life cycle. An EPR policy is characterized by: a. the shifting of responsibility (physically and/or economically; fully or partially) upstream toward the producer and away from municipalities; and b. the provision of incentives to producers to take into account environmental considerations when designing their products. While other policy instruments tend to target a single point in the chain, EPR seeks to integrate signals related to the environmental characteristics of products and production processes throughout the entire product chain.

Mechanical Recycling

Operations that aim to recover plastics via mechanical processes (grinding, washing, separating, drying, re-granulating and compounding), thus producing recyclates that can be converted into plastics products to substitute virgin plastics.

Ocean Bound Plastic

Post-consumer plastic collected within a 50-kilometer distance from the nearest coastlines, which if not recovered, is expected to leak into the oceans.

Plastic Credit

An environmental asset representing a unit of weight, typically 1,000 kilograms or 1 metric ton, of plastic waste that has been collected and/or processed. Specific definitions of scope are dependent on standards applied to verification. At PCX Markets, each credit is only issued to purchasers once all work is complete, verified through documentation and added to the PCX Markets public registry.

Plastic Footprint

Amount of plastic associated with a business' activities measured in units of mass (kilograms or metric tons) and based on a defined scope. This may include plastic used in the manufacturing, distribution, promotion, and sale of products or services, as well as in general and administrative functions. It may encompass plastic retained within the business, released to the market and still in use, and/or emitted/leaked into the environment, providing an inventory of the business's overall plastic usage.

Plastic/s

Any of a group of synthetic or natural organic materials, including resins, resinoids, polymers, cellulose derivatives, casein materials, and proteins.

Post-consumer Plastic

Plastic waste generated by end-user waste generators such as households, businesses, hotels, restaurants, or similar. This definition excludes ‘post-industrial’ or ‘pre-consumer’ waste produced by factories (i.e. products or packaging that are defective, rejected, returned, or do not meet quality standards). This definition excludes any plastic waste that is classified as hazardous waste by relevant national regulations.

Processors

Facility that receives, treats, or converts post-consumer plastic waste into other useful forms through material or energy recovery.

Project

Refers to activities and facilities managed as a single operation that collects and processes post-consumer plastic wastes. This operation may generate plastic credits upon registration and is subject to verification and validation of impact delivered.

Project Partner

May refer to Aggregator, Processors or an entity that covers both collection and processing of the post-consumer plastic.

Recycling

Any reprocessing of material in a production process that diverts it from the waste stream, except reuse as fuel. Both reprocessing as the same type of product, and for different purposes should be included. Direct recycling within industrial plants at the place of generation should be excluded.

Sustainability Partner

An individual, a group of people or a corporation purchasing plastic credits and/or applying for a certification.

Validation and Verification Bodies (VVB)

Refers to a third-party organization, independent from PCX Solutions and the Project Partner, that has been approved by PCX Solutions to carry out validation and verification of Projects and their impacts to evaluate conformity with the PPRS.

Verification

Independent evaluation conducted by any qualified third-party to check that the quality of input data, plastic footprint assessment, or that the impact delivered is in line with the approach and principles of the approved plastic credit standard.

Waste-to-Energy (WtE)

Refers to a variety of treatment technologies that convert waste to electricity, heat, fuel, or other usable materials, as well as a range of residues including fly ash, sludge, slag, boiler ash, wastewater and emissions, including greenhouse gases.

Let’s Get To Work

Join us in the collective fight to keep plastic out of nature.