November 15, 2022

How rePurpose Global inspired Yulu to become Plastic Negative 

In the global community of socially impactful companies, we’ve long been aware of the need to reduce our carbon emissions. We employ a bunch of creative solutions to do it  – from carpooling to carbon offsetting to shareholder activism. And though we know that plastic waste and pollution have had disastrous effects on the environment, particularly in the Global South, there is less collective understanding of ways that companies can reduce and compensate for their plastic footprint.

Enter our client partner rePurpose Global. When we learned about the organization’s four pillar approach to fighting global plastic pollution; measurement, reduction, plastic credits, and certifications we were so inspired that we decided to pursue a certification of our own. Yulu became Plastic Negative certified. It was dead simple. 

The first step was to calculate our annual plastic consumption using rePurpose’s calculator. Then, rePurpose worked out how much it would cost to remove twice as much (as we are Plastic Negative) low-value plastic from the environment as our team produces. The last step involves a little more work on our part – reducing our plastic consumption by acting on the recommendations in rePurpose’s analysis of our plastic consumption behaviors. We achieved our certification in September 2022, joining the ranks of companies like Grove Collaborative, Riverside Natural Foods and Mananalu.

To date, rePurpose Global has removed or recovered more than 14 million pounds of plastic waste, and awarded certification to more than 250 companies, positively impacting the lives of 10,000+ waste workers and their families. Curious about the process? You can read all about it in this Forbes feature