Launching the Plastic Collective Foundation: Supporting the Heroes Behind Plastic Recovery
Plastic Collective has operated since 2016 as a social enterprise—a for-profit business dedicated to preventing plastic pollution. Through innovative systems, the organisation has worked across education, economics, community development, creative arts, and manufacturing. Founded by Louise Hardman with her siblings Steve and Dianne Hardman, the company expanded from Australia to the United Kingdom and built an international team spanning France, Germany, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, England, and the United States. Recovery and recycling projects have reached Australia, Vanuatu, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Africa, and the Philippines.
The organisation partners with grassroots communities as well as brands and companies to advance circular economies and convert plastics into resources rather than waste.
Over the past six months, Plastic Collective has established the Plastic Collective Foundation, an internationally recognised charity and registered Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) under Australian tax law. The Foundation operates alongside the for-profit entity in a hybrid enterprise model. Its focus is education programmes, training workshops, and mentorship initiatives. Tax-deductible donations support plastic waste education and training, together with direct assistance for the workers who form the backbone of recycling supply chains in many emerging economies—informal waste-pickers who often live and work in harsh, unsafe conditions without earning a basic living wage.
These essential workers are frequently labelled “scavengers,” “trash-pickers,” or similar terms. Plastic Collective instead recognises them as the true heroes of their communities—individuals who recover value from discarded materials. The organisation refers to them as Circularity Heroes or Wastepreneurs.
The Human Face of Recovery: Nenek Widi
A few years ago, while delivering programmes in Bali, Louise Hardman met Nenek Widi, an 80-year-old grandmother working at Suwung Trash Mountain with her daughter and grandchildren. She earned approximately USD 3 per day sorting PET bottles at the 15-hectare landfill that has long received a substantial share of Bali’s plastic waste. Nenek and her family lived in a makeshift home constructed from materials salvaged from the site.
Despite the difficult conditions, Nenek was described as a woman of remarkable warmth, with a gentle smile, kind eyes, and a generous spirit. Hardman has returned multiple times to visit her and the team at the Bali Life Foundation, which operates a community centre and school near the landfill for children of the approximately 100–200 waste-picker families living and working in the area. The centre provides education support, empowerment activities, and practical assistance aimed at restoring dignity and opportunity.
Suwung has long illustrated the pressures facing Bali’s waste system. The site has received large daily volumes of mixed waste linked to tourism and urban activity, creating both environmental challenges and precarious livelihoods for the families who depend on it.
Honouring Essential Workers in the Circular Economy
With the Plastic Collective Foundation now established, the organisation aims to work systematically with waste-pickers and other community heroes who recover and sort materials for recycling. These workers are indispensable to reducing pollution and enabling circular systems, yet they frequently operate without formal recognition, safety protections, or adequate income.
Globally, estimates place the number of informal waste workers in the range of 10–20 million people. They recover tens of millions of tonnes of materials annually—often a significant share of plastics collected for recycling in low- and middle-income countries—while facing occupational hazards, social stigma, and incomes that commonly fall well below living-wage thresholds.
The Foundation seeks to honour these workers by providing knowledge, skills, and enterprise qualifications that build pride and dignity. The longer-term goal is that essential recovery workers receive at least a minimal living wage and no longer operate under poverty-like conditions. An upcoming initiative, the Global Heroes Mentoring programme, will share stories of these individuals and deliver practical support for skills development and enterprise pathways.
Hybrid Model and Path Forward
Plastic Collective continues its work with brands, institutions, and governments to finance recovery infrastructure, traceability systems, and certified impact (including alignment with standards such as the Verra Plastic Waste Reduction Standard). The Foundation complements this by focusing on education, training, and direct community support. Together they form a hybrid model that pairs market mechanisms with charitable programmes aimed at people most affected by plastic pollution.
Stay tuned for further details on the Global Heroes Mentoring programme and opportunities to support the Foundation. Tax-deductible donations will fund education, training, and assistance for the Circularity Heroes who make recovery possible.
Resources and Further Reading
- Plastic Collective – Our Story
- Plastic Collective Grassroots Initiatives
- Bali Life Foundation – Suwung Community Centre and Trash Pickers in Bali
- WIEGO – Waste Pickers (global statistics and research on informal recycling workers)
- Australian Taxation Office guidance on Deductible Gift Recipients and DGR status
- Verra Plastic Waste Reduction Standard (referenced in Plastic Collective project certifications)
