Summary of Empower AS
Empower is creating a solution to the plastic waste problem by giving plastic a value. They are cleaning up the world while fighting poverty by providing a wage to those in need.
Empower operates by setting up collection points around the world together with local partners (NGOs or charities). Once set up, these partners issue financial rewards in exchange for plastic deposits. All plastic is digitally registered upon collection, allowing Empower to trace the recovered plastic back up the supply chain, and keeping tabs on how it ends up being reused.
The plastic is cleaned up by underprivileged locals in poor communities. The plastic collection is a huge opportunity for these waste pickers, as they are given a stable amount of money per kilo of plastic collected. Locals that choose to be waste pickers can multiply their daily income – which for them means food, security and opportunity.
Empower has already organised cleanups in more than 15 countries, including those that see the Niger, Mekong and Ganges rivers flow through them (all of these are among the world’s top 10 most polluted).
Copy Suggestions for a product page
When you buy this [product], we’ll remove 400 bottles’ worth of ocean-bound plastic (5 kg) from polluted rivers and shores in Southeast Asia and Africa. This plastic collection gives crucial income to local waste pickers that live in disadvantaged communities. The collection is facilitated and tracked by Verdn, and executed by Empower AS. You are able to track your own unique impact after buying the product.
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5KG of ocean-bound plastic will be recovered for every [product] sold.
More info on Ocean-bound Cleanup: You will receive an email with a link to your personal impact dashboard for you where you can see the status, and track the progress, of your ocean-bound plastic cleanup. 5KG is equal to 400 plastic bottles, and each purchase makes a difference for our planet, and the waste pickers that get paid to clean it up.
Empower’s Inspiration
Empower is building a global plastic waste ecosystem based on the same philosophy as the Norwegian bottle deposit system (one of the most effective recycling schemes in the world). By giving plastic waste a value, they are able to both stop leakage of plastic into the environment and cost-efficiently incentivize collection of leaked waste.