Our Work

The Plastic Solutions Fund connects the power of philanthropy to the grassroots to end plastic pollution. We unite organizations from small, local groups to international legal experts, to tackle the complexities of the plastics crisis, fight back against the powerful plastics industry, and design a better, more sustainable future. We serve as collaborators and partners alongside the 150 country-strong #BreakFreeFromPlastic (BFFP) movement and our grantees who jointly identify what’s most needed to make change.

Our results speak for themselves: from initiating the Global Plastics Treaty to inspiring major companies like Unilever to pledge reductions in virgin plastic, our movement is bringing about a new reuse economy and working to protect vulnerable communities and workers worldwide.

HISTORY

A MOVEMENT IS BORN

The Plastic Solutions Fund began in January of 2017 after a wide spectrum of NGOs, charities, foundations, and research institutes agreed on a common global strategy – The Tagaytay Strategy – to tackle the increasingly large plastic pollution crisis. They set an agenda for transformation that included:

achieve peak plastic packaging and other single use disposable applications by 2025, as the first big step towards elimination of all non-essential uses by 2035
effect an immediate slowdown in plastic use and/or leakage in those countries most vulnerable to pollution
support and build the foundations of the global movement to say no to plastic packaging waste, to embrace zero waste principles and stop the tide of plastic flowing into the ocean. The #breakfreefromplastic movement was born.

The Plastic Solutions Fund was born to fuel that movement with strategic philanthropic investment.

STRATEGY

THE WAY WE WORK

Recognizing that the Plastic Solutions Fund can best support its objectives by being as focused as possible with its giving, we primarily support projects that exemplify one or more of these strategies:

build the movement
shift narratives
expand reuse systems
fight plastics industry
eliminate unnecessary single-use plastic

The Plastic Solutions Fund seeks to support its objectives in three ways:

priority grant making in support of identified priorities;
leveraging of additional philanthropic and other funds in support of the Strategy more generally; and
thought leadership that sets the parameters for the scale, type and pace of change required.

THEORY OF CHANGE

We believe that when enough people believe change is possible, change becomes possible. We work to transform the systems that drive our increasing production and consumption of plastic, not just the systems used to manage its disposal. We believe in community, and the power of unusual allies with multiple goals and divergent tactics working together to solve a common problem. We believe that cooperation, generosity, and trust are essential to building the strong and diverse global movement essential to drive the transformation.