Article
06/08/23

Our Investment in rePurpose

By Bryant Barr

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The world’s plastic problem is monstrous. Every minute the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into our ocean. Only a small fraction (~9%) of the world’s plastic is recycled. The rest? Well, most of that ends up in the environment, either in landfills, waterways, or other unintended places. It’s a problem so large that 175 nations have agreed to come together to form a global plastic treaty to reduce plastic usage.  

There must be a collaborative ecosystem of stakeholders to solve such a systemic issue. That’s why we’ve invested in rePurpose Global, a plastic action platform with solutions empowering individuals and businesses to measure, reduce, and balance their plastic footprint. With efficient on-ground operations to properly recover plastic and software to track, measure, and report progress, rePurpose Global is the connective tissue in the march toward circularity 

What this team, led by three former University of Pennsylvania classmates, has achieved in such short order is impressive. Svanika, Peter, and Adi bring a global perspective and complementary skill sets to break this large problem into its component parts. Their unique combination of a bold vision with relentless execution results in meaningful value creation and significant progress, including recovering over 33 million pounds of ocean-bound and nature-bound plastic.

The urgency of the plastic problem is growing rapidly among consumers, investors, and regulators, all of whom are pressuring brands to take action on their plastic use. rePurpose Global is leaning into these macro tailwinds and formed the Innovation Alliance in partnership with dozens of other organizations and innovators to guide the United Nations Global Plastic Treaty negotiation. This is just one example of how the company challenges the status quo with creative and pragmatic environmental action. We’re delighted to partner with rePurpose Global and look forward to seeing their leadership drive more progress. To learn more about rePurpose Global, visit their website at rePurpose.global.