Financing Waste Management and Recycling Infrastructure to Prevent Ocean Plastic Pollution

A Survey of Innovative Financial Instruments

A suite of solutions is necessary to tackle the ocean plastics crisis and high among them is the need to invest in stronger, more effective waste collection and recycling systems around the world. These systems are varied and complex, with wildly different stakeholders—from individual waste pickers to giant waste management companies, from small, private “junk shops” to government-run facilities. Unsurprisingly, each of the actors along the plastic value chain has very different financing needs.

This report, building on our previous work to help establish the Circulate Capital Ocean Fund, the world’s first catalytic capital fund devoted to keeping trash out of the ocean in South and Southeast Asia, identifies capital market tools that could be brought to bear in the fight against ocean plastic pollution. Some already exist, but are either nascent or have not yet been applied in the plastics space. Some are drawn from other environmental sectors that have also grappled with financing challenges. Others are theoretical—for now.

It is our sincere hope that this work will spur efforts to apply new financial instruments to various aspects of the ocean plastics crisis. We need everyone, including the finance sector, on board.

Download the Report [PDF]