Planks of Promise: Scaling the collection and recycling of hard-to-recycle plastics

Forging circularity in Manila

The story of our partner, The Plastic Flamingo (The Plaf), is a love story—love between a couple, and with the planet. Started by a husband and wife, the social enterprise is focused on developing a solution that can help vulnerable communities reclaim the value of their waste. With close ties to the community, and our support, The Plaf team have launched over 150 collection points (as of August 2021) to source plastic waste from partners throughout Metro Manila, Philippines. This waste then becomes the feedstock for their new recycling facility, which turns hard-to-recycle plastic into planks that can then be sold to fund the facility and ensure long-term economic sustainability.

In March 2021, the team produced their first ‘eco planks’ after months of rigorous testing, in conjunction with the University of the Philippines Diliman. They plan on starting full production in June, and recycling 2,000 tons of plastic waste annually by the end of 2023.

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"All the plastic donated to us will be transformed into ‘eco planks’, which can be made into shelters, pontoons, and even outdoor furniture."

Erica Reyes, Chief of Operations Officer

From refuse to refuge

The Plaf team are not content with just helping end plastic waste, however. They are also deeply invested in improving the lives of their community.

Their Chief Products and Marketing Officer, Anne-Sophie van der Spek, used her training as an architect to design a schematic for an emergency shelter, made from ‘eco planks’. These shelters could one day be used to help the thousands of Filipinos displaced by natural disasters, such as during one of the more than 20 typhoons that hit the Southeast Asian nation annually.

With our support, The Plaf aims to scale up their collection with 200 points across Manila by 2022, enabling them to turn more plastic waste into Planks of Promise.  

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