rePurpose Global is a platform that encourages brands, consumers, innovators, and policymakers to reduce their plastic footprints through circular economy solutions.
The organisation acts as a bridge between companies and waste management organisations on the ground, implementing a solution that reduces plastic waste generation in the long term. In addition, rePurpose provides partnering waste management organisations with technological support, funding, and knowledge to help them scale their operations. Waste workers in low-income and middle-income countries are largely part of the informal economy, working for reduced pay, without benefits, and often in substandard conditions.1 Svanika is transforming the lives of waste workers by improving their working conditions, ensuring fair pay, providing health insurance, and improving their financial security by facilitating access to pension funds and bank accounts.
In 2021, Svanika attended the Summit in Munich as a Lead 2030 winner with Credit Suisse. The mentorship that Svanika received helped her understand large scale companies and the role that rePurpose can play in bringing social impact to the private sector. The recognition that rePurpose received from One Young World and Credit Suisse helped them build visibility and gain bargaining power while negotiating with large companies.
rePurpose Global has recovered 38,500 tonnes of nature-bound plastic and mitigated over 111,800 tonnes of carbon, protecting critical ocean ecosystems. The organisation has also built over 100 classrooms and 15 houses for low-income groups, using plastic upcycled into bricks and wood. Through rePurpose, Svanika has provided 2,500 waste workers with formal employment benefits, health and safety measures, and improved working conditions. The organisation has also provided 2.5 million people with waste management services. The next step for Svanika is to build a new software product that will help companies design environmentally sustainable packaging in compliance with regulations.
