Unplastify

The problem of plastic pollution is alarming. Plastic production is growing exponentially and, if we continue at the same level, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans (The New Plastics Economy, 2016).

This is why, in 2018, Agustina Besada decided to cross the Atlantic (twice) aboard a sailing boat, collecting samples of plastic waste and interviewing experts along the way about the problem and possible solutions. On her return and with the help of Rocío González, she turned exploration into action and created Unplastify. Based in Buenos Aires, this social enterprise is committed to accelerating solutions to reduce plastic pollution and change our relationship with plastic.

To drive local action and systemic change, the duo set up “Unplastify Challenges” for schools, companies and institutions. The Educational Challenges for schools aims to inspire, empower and guide young change makers to un-plastify their local communities. The Company Challenges help enterprises redesign their relationship with plastic internally (offices and internal processes) and externally (products and services) through a collaborative approach involving employees. The Government Challenges support regulatory processes and public policies at a national and local level to build bridges between different stakeholders.

Challenge accepted

In 2019-2020, Unplastify guided more than 3,300 students in 20 schools to develop their own unplastifying strategies in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. 10 companies in Argentina and Chile also took up the challenge, avoiding 60,521 kg of plastic. At an institutional level, one of the key achievements was contributing to legislation progressively banning single-use plastic in Argentina.

The company is growing and now has 12 team members. Their ambition? Unplastify 1 million people in 5 years to avoid 10 million tons of plastic.

Would you like to help them achieve this?

unplastify.com