Plastic pollution is one of the most pressing problems of the environment. And evidently, no one has yet to provide quality waste management that will solve this issue any time soon. However, Joel Tasche, Founder & CEO at Cleanhub, is gaining a lot of traction with his solution and offers a lot of promise in effectively removing plastic from the environment. 

“Household garbage collection is still the most efficient way. It doesn't make sense to throw it in the environment and then pay someone to pick it up” - Joel Tasche

According to Joel, the problem starts with the existing waste management services that refuse to collect non-recyclable plastics, such as flexible packaging. Because they don’t find these types of plastic valuable, they leave it, and they usually end up in the ocean. 

Cleanhub aims to solve this problem by approaching big companies who are interested in making an impact. These companies essentially buy these non-recyclable plastics, and Cleanhub partners with existing waste management companies in India, Indonesia and Brazil. 

Rather than starting from scratch, it makes more sense for Joel to partner with these existing waste management companies, because they already have everything in place. They just don’t collect everything. And with the partnership with Cleanhub, they are now incentivized to collect non-recyclable plastics, which will greatly contribute to effectively removing plastic from the environment. 

Between these two contracts, what Joel has done is build a platform that can track and monitor the types of material that is being collected. Cleanhub requires pictures as proof of collection of the specific plastic that they are looking for, which is flexible packaging. They also require weighing notes and truck details throughout the entire process for complete transparency.

Furthermore, they connect these collection partners to disposal end points where they know the materials will be treated safely. All of these are documented so that the big brand companies can see the impact that they are paying for. 

Sadly, this is just one part of the problem, says Joel. Aside from effective waste management, society also needs to consider providing better materials to the market. If you want to learn more on how to effectively remove plastic from the environment.