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Turning Haiti’s Plastic Trash into Cash

Can “social plastic” keep the oceans clean and fight poverty too?

Picking up money - that’s what Haitian’s nicknamed a movement seeking to solve Haiti’s plastic waste problem and reduce poverty at the same time. It was started by a man who saw a glimmer of hope in the devastation wrought by the 2010 earthquake: plastic bottles were clogging the beaches and filling the oceans with rubbish. But what if you could clear up the trash, give Haitians employment, and reduce the reliance on “virgin” plastic, all at the same time?

It’s a bold idea that aims to solve two of the World’s big problems – poverty and plastic in the ocean. And it all hinges on attaching social value to recycled plastic. So why aren’t more companies doing it?

Presenter: Sahar Zand
Reporter: Gemma Newby

Image: 91ȱ

Available now

23 minutes

Last on

Tue 23 May 2017 19:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Tue 23 May 2017 01:06GMT
  • Tue 23 May 2017 19:06GMT

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