Created and launched by Bantam Materials UK Ltd. in 2019, the Prevented Ocean Plastic programme provides an innovative solution for coastal communities that lack formal waste management infrastructure and are at risk of ocean plastic pollution. By working with local recyclers, and helping them to develop new collection and aggregation centres, we give value to what would otherwise be discarded waste and incentivise the collection of this ocean-bound plastic - elevating the industry and local community, while building a circular economy to facilitate a just transition at each level of the supply chain.
For World Oceans Day (June 8) 2023, Bantam Materials UK Ltd. announced the 25 by 2025 initiative to develop 25 new collection and aggregation centres in at-risk coastal communities that need them. We received impact investment from Circulate Capital and USAID's Clean Cities Blue Ocean programme via their Prevented Ocean Plastic South East Asia arm for the development of collection centres in Indonesia. The first of these - a large-scale aggregation centre funded by USAID - was opened in Semarang, the capital and largest city on the northern coast of Central Java, in July 2023. A second collection centre held its grand opening in October 2023, as a result of wider Circulate Capital investment in the programme - and was a featured part of their Annual General Meeting, which was inaugurated with representatives from PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Dow, Danone, Unilever, Mondelēz International and other investors in attendance. Several more collection and aggregation centres have broken ground across the last six months - including new regions such as East Africa and South America - as the programme is replicable across multiple geographies and continents. We hope to see 25 become 50, then 50 become 100, and so on - each with a view to elevate and create a just transition for all parties involved. The programme encourages the development of the circular economy with consideration for social equity, responsible sourcing and the need for a just transition - ensuring local recyclers and business owners directly inform each step, while the voices of frontline pickers are taken into account in its development; particularly with regard to the POP Standards, which are audited by a third-party to maintain impartiality.
Academic research is always at the core of what we do – offering tangible solutions to real-world problems – which is why we established the POP Research Centre in 2020, and our work continues to be inspired by the latest studies in the field. It is also why we’re developing solutions in places like Semarang – which was identified as an area of need in a recent Circularity Assessment Protocol (CAP) by the University of Georgia. In order to support further academic development of ocean-bound plastic, Bantam Materials UK Ltd. is directly funding the University of Georgia's latest research - through the Hydraulic Movement of Litter study and further CAP assessments - to better understand the problem and the ways in which we can help to solve it.