UV Skinz’s Partnership with CleanHub: Together We Can Solve Plastic Waste

CleanHub has made it their mission to clean up plastic waste across the globe. The company utilizes state-of-the-art technology to keep plastic out of our oceans. To date, CleanHub has collected 6,069,405 kg of waste!

UV Skinz partnered with CleanHub to help reduce plastic waste and make a positive impact on the world. To date, we've recovered over 52,877 pounds of plastic!

We recently interviewed CleanHub to hear their story, how they got started, what their hope for the future is in terms of reducing plastic waste. Learn more about this wonderful organization below. 

Q&A with CleanHub

Can You Tell Our Readers About Your Mission?

CleanHub is a Berlin-based company using technology to keep plastic out of the sea by implementing waste recovery where there is none.

Their solution enables proactive brands to fund and advance plastic recovery in coastal communities across Asia and Africa with the greatest risk of plastic entering the ocean.

Collection efforts are fully transparent and openly impactful. Its TÜV SÜD ISO-verified AI technology is used to track and trace collection.

Unlike alternative approaches that are focused on recovering plastic once it is already in nature, CleanHub is stopping it from getting there in the first place.

Can You Provide Some Facts Everyone Should Know About the Plastic Crisis?

Here are some facts about the plastic crisis you might not have known about:

• The Pacific Ocean has the most plastic among all oceans of the world due to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. 
  
  
• Studies show that it holds 2 trillion pieces of plastic, which makes up 33% of the total plastic pollution in the ocean. This massive plastic accumulation is fuelled by the North Pacific Gyre.

• The UNEP’s Global Assessment of Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution estimate that there are 75 - 199 million tonnes of plastic waste in the ocean. 
  
  
• There is predicted to be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050.
  
  
• Plastic is toxic to marine life and is responsible for killing over 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds. They become a victim by either consuming it or by getting entangled in it. 
  
  
• Depending on the type of plastic, it can take somewhere between 20 to 500 years for complete degradation. 

What Has Been the Most Exciting Part of Bringing Your Mission to Life?

Joel, CEO and Co-Founder of CleanHub shared, "I love seeing the CleanHub solution work and grow. It gives us all hope that if it works on a micro level, we can make a massive impact if we find enough like-minded people and brands."

He continued, "However, if I had to mention one highlight in particular, it would be the moment when we sent out our first truck filled with non-recyclable plastics."

How Do You Prevent Plastic Pollution?

We use technology to keep plastic out of the sea by implementing waste recovery where there is none. 

We partner with local waste managers in areas like Indonesia and India - ensuring social standards, safe jobs and fair wages are put in place.

We partner with brands to help them reduce their environmental impact by funding waste recovery in our hubs.

Waste collection can be door-to-door, or directly from beaches or rivers.

We have built the technology to track and trace our entire logistics chain.

The result: clean oceans, less pollution, lower emissions, and improved livelihoods.

What Does it Mean to Be the First Plastic Credit System Verified by TÜV SÜD?

Plastic credits are an important tool to prevent global plastic pollution. They enable businesses to take immediate and tangible action against plastic waste and provide much-needed investments in waste collection in high-pollution hotspots. However, there is a lack of transparency, and no industry standard exists yet.

CleanHub has become the first plastic credit system verified by industry leaders in auditing environmental impact TÜV SÜD according to the ISO 14064-3 standard, which has been adapted to the verification of plastic credits, bringing a new level of transparency and rigor to the plastic credit market.

To prevent ocean plastic and enable the circular economy we need to connect 2bn people to effective waste management. But for this to happen, significant capital is required. Plastic credits can provide that source of finance, as an instrument that brands use to fund the recovery and management of plastic waste.

To give buyers confidence in their environmental impact when CleanHub recovers plastic on their behalf, CleanHub has built a track and trace system to ensure the recovery of plastic waste from collection to responsible disposal. Every bag of waste is weighed and photographed, and quality is monitored by AI alongside manual checks.

The TÜV SÜD audit provides third-party verification that CleanHub as an organization has the competence, consistency of operation, and impartiality to issue plastic credits.

Can You Tell Us More About Your Partnership with UV Skinz? How Are You Working Together Collaboratively to Reduce Plastic Waste?

UV Skinz has a huge connection to the ocean and therefore was looking for a partnership that tackles one of the biggest problems the oceans face - the plastic pollution.

UV Skinz has decided to finance the collection of 100,000 pounds of non-recyclable plastic waste through a portfolio of collection hubs spread across South-East Asia (India, Indonesia, and Cambodia).

By working with CleanHub, UV Skinz enables the safe collection and recovery of ocean bound plastic waste. The contribution supports clean environments and creates sustainable jobs in the global South.

How Can Other Businesses Get Involved with CleanHub?

If you'd like to contribute, reduce your plastic packaging footprint, and connect with conscious consumers, you're welcome to join our mission. You can take action online today by getting in touch with us.

How Much Plastic Waste Has UV Skinz Helped Collect Thanks to Your Partnership?

UV Skinz has committed to collecting 100,000 pounds of plastic waste in the period between April 2023 and April 2024.

We are currently about halfway through with the collection at  52,877 pounds as of Nov. 9, 2023. 

Be sure to join our email list to get UV Skinz/CleanHub updates! And check out CleanHub online to learn more about their mission.