{"id":34421,"date":"2018-11-13T18:00:20","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T23:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/using-open-innovation-to-solve-the-ocean-plastics-problem\/"},"modified":"2018-11-13T18:02:16","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T23:02:16","slug":"using-open-innovation-to-solve-the-ocean-plastics-problem","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/using-open-innovation-to-solve-the-ocean-plastics-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Open Innovation to Solve the Ocean Plastics Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Plastic Bank is harnessing open innovation in order to deliver a superior plastic recycling platform in countries where traditional waste management strategies have fallen short. The organization seeks to reduce the eight million metric tons of plastic that currently enters oceans annually by incentivizing individual waste pickers to collect more recyclable plastic. By creating a valuable market for the plastic, the Plastic Bank is able to compensate its collectors a fair wage that allows them to provide for their families.<\/p>\n

The 性视界 Business Review\u2019s analysis of crowdsourcing opportunities highlights how open innovation can be harnessed efficiently and flexibly match talent to discrete tasks.[1]<\/a> Waste management is a prime opportunity to do just this, especially in places where capital investments necessary for traditional waste management are cost prohibitive. This is the niche that the Plastic Bank seeks to fill.<\/p>\n

Open innovation allows the organization to crowdsource this process of plastic collection and recycling. The Plastic Bank works directly with some of the poorest citizens of the world\u2019s poorest countries (and those that produce the most ocean bound plastic) to collect recyclable plastic. The organization then turns to an flexible pool of recyclers to recycle its plastic. Finally, the Plastic Bank then markets its plastic to sustainability oriented companies like Marks & Spencer who use the recycled plastic in their products.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Plastic Bank\u2019s use of open innovation enables their entire business model. Instead of hiring a team of waste collectors and investing in a fleet of garbage trucks, Plastic Bank\u2019s open innovation model allows individual trash collectors to collect as much waste as they can and deposit their waste at collection points at stores that the company operates. These stores sell food, fuel, stoves, and water that waste collectors can purchase with the proceeds from their recycled plastic. These transactions are enabled by blockchain via an IBM-enabled enterprise IT system that pays collectors in an instantly redeemable currency.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

The Plastic Bank also uses open innovation on the other side of their process: the recycling itself. The organization uses existing and new informal recyclers who bid on the physical recycling. By using these third-party recyclers in a flexible arrangement, The Plastic Bank prevents getting locked into long term contracts. The organization can get lower prices for the recycling, allow for flexibility in its recycling demand, and avoid the capital expenses associated with building its own recycling infrastructure.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

To address the challenges of a distributed and informal labor force, Plastic Bank has partnered with IBM to utilize another megatrend, blockchain enabled crypto currency, to compensate their workforce. After depositing recyclable plastic in certified collection points, the company pays waste collectors in \u201csocial plastic\u201d that can be redeemed for food, water, and phone charging, among other necessities. This allows the company to directly pay their collectors in an instantly redeemable currency without building out its physical presence at collection points.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

In the next several years, the company plans to expand its operations from Haiti and the Philippines to Indonesia and Brazil. Within each of these countries there is also considerable room for expansion. The Philippines and Indonesia are two of the largest producers of ocean bound plastic, and on a per capita basis Haiti also ranks highly.[6]<\/a> As the organization expands, they will have to adjust their open innovation model. Since the plastic collectors are paid in store credit, the company will need to expand its selection of merchandise so as to attract new collectors. The company has already begun to roll out some of these new inventory items, including non-traditional retail goods like school tuition, cell phone charging, and health insurance.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

In the longer run, I would love to see the organization reduce the cost of its recycled plastic to allow it to compete with less expensive virgin plastic. This will expand their market beyond environmentally and socially focused consumers to a broader mainstream. To do this, the company will have to expand its scale within each country to reach a critical mass enough to either build its own recycling infrastructure or negotiate better prices with existing recyclers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(797 words)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Kevin J. Bordeau and Karim R. Lakhani, \u201cUsing the Crowd as an Innovation,\u201d 性视界 Business Review<\/em> 91, no. 4 (April 2013): 61-69<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> David Katz, \u201cSocial Plastic,\u201d PowerPoint Presentation, November 4, 2016, The Plastic Bank, Vancouver, BC.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> IBM, \u201cThe Plastic Bank,\u201d https:\/\/www.ibm.com\/case-studies\/plastic-bank<\/a><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> David Katz, \u201cSocial Plastic,\u201d PowerPoint Presentation, November 4, 2016, The Plastic Bank, Vancouver, BC.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Adam Wernick, \u201cThe Plastic Bank works to turn plastic trash into cash and other necessities for the world\u2019s poor,\u201d Public Radio International<\/em>, March 5, 2018, https:\/\/www.pri.org\/stories\/2018-03-05\/plastic-banks-works-turn-plastic-trash-cash-and-other-necessities-worlds-poor<\/a>, Accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Lisa Goldapple, \u201cBanking What the Sea Spits Back: The Plastic Bank,\u201d The Atlas of the Future<\/em>, September 21, 2016, https:\/\/atlasofthefuture.org\/project\/the-plastic-bank\/<\/a>, Accessed November 2018.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> David Katz, \u201cSocial Plastic,\u201d PowerPoint Presentation, November 4, 2016, The Plastic Bank, Vancouver, BC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Plastic Bank is using open innovation to expand plastic waste collection in countries with limited traditional waste management. This has the potential to improve livelihoods among the poorest citizens of the world's poorest countries and reduce the flow of plastic into the ocean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11038,"featured_media":34422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[800,2042,1281,4940,1498,1373,1889],"class_list":["post-34421","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-haiti","category-ibm","category-indonesia","category-ocean-plastic","category-plastic","category-plastic-bottles","category-waste-management","hck-taxonomy-organization-the-plastic-bank","hck-taxonomy-industry-green-technology","hck-taxonomy-country-haiti"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2018\/","yoast_head":"\nUsing Open Innovation to Solve the Ocean Plastics Problem - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/using-open-innovation-to-solve-the-ocean-plastics-problem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Using Open Innovation to Solve the Ocean Plastics Problem - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Plastic Bank is using open innovation to expand plastic waste collection in countries with limited traditional waste management. 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