What Plastic Solutions Fund does

Plastic Solutions Fund (PSF) is an international funder collaborative founded in January 2017 that operates as a strategic philanthropic intermediary for the global movement to end plastic pollution. Headquartered in the United States with a lean team of 8 employees, PSF does not develop technology products or sell services; instead, it makes priority, by-invitation grants to nonprofits, grassroots coalitions, legal alliances, and advocacy campaigns aligned with the Tagaytay Strategy and the #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement. Over 10 years, PSF has extended grant funding to 272 organizations across 65 countries, with anchor grantees including Zero Waste Europe, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN), the Story of Stuff Project, the EcoWaste Coalition, and the Permian Gulf Coast Coalition.

PSF's business model is philanthropic grant-making, not commercial revenue generation. Capital is sourced from institutional philanthropic partners (notably The Audacious Project) and a network of individual and institutional donors, then deployed through multi-year, multi-phase grants. The organization does not accept unsolicited proposals and uses its funding to coordinate a global movement architecture spanning movement building, narrative shifting, reuse system expansion, and direct opposition to plastics industry lobbying. PSF receives no product revenue, has no disclosed pricing model, and operates primarily through website, newsletter, and LinkedIn channels, alongside active participation in the United Nations Global Plastics Treaty negotiations.

PSF's strategic significance derives from its centrality to the #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement (which includes over 11,000 organizations across 150+ countries) and its role in initiating the Global Plastics Treaty process. The organization has supported outcomes including averting over 800,000 tons of waste through the Zero Waste Cities project and influencing major corporate pledges on virgin plastic reduction. As a non-profit with no subsidiaries, no public listing, and no private equity backing, PSF's strategic value is measured in policy influence, movement capacity, and grantee impact rather than financial returns.

Name

Plastic Solutions Fund

Legal name

Plastic Solutions Fund

Website

https://plasticsolution.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Plastic Solutions Fund is an international funder collaborative providing strategic philanthropic grant funding to environmental organizations working to end plastic pollution, supporting 272 grantees across 65 countries through the #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking / Environmental Funder Collaborative

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Water & Waste / Circular Economy Funds (FSANAJAF), Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Sponsors (BPAGAKAF), Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Environmental philanthropy
• Grantmaking collaborative
• Plastic pollution funding
• Climate movement building
• Zero waste advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Not specified

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grant Funding: Plastic Solutions Fund operates as an international funder collaborative that provides grant funding to support the global movement to end plastic pollution. The organization serves as a platform for new philanthropic investment and promotes innovative collaboration among individuals and institutions to galvanize solutions to plastic pollution.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Plastic Solutions Fund is an international funder collaborative that provides strategic philanthropic grants to a curated portfolio of organizations working to end plastic pollution. Through the Tagaytay Strategy framework and direct alignment with the Break Free From Plastic movement, PSF funds movement building, narrative shifting, reuse system expansion, plastic industry accountability, and elimination of unnecessary single-use plastics. It does not accept unsolicited grant proposals and instead identifies grantees that fit its strategic priorities across roughly 65 countries.

Product overview

Plastic Solutions Fund is not a technology product company; it is an international funder collaborative that provides philanthropic investment to support the global movement to end plastic pollution. The organization connects philanthropy to grassroots organizations and does not offer software products or technology services in the traditional sense.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Priority Grantmaking Program (Tagaytay Strategy-aligned grants) Multi-year strategic grants awarded to environmental NGOs and alliances aligned with the Break Free From Plastic movement and PSF's Tagaytay Strategy, covering movement building, narrative shift, reuse systems, plastic-industry accountability, and elimination of unnecessary single-use plastics. Grantees are not selected via unsolicited proposals.
• Global Plastics Treaty Advocacy & Engagement Convening, advocacy, and on-the-ground engagement through PSF-funded partners to push for ambitious Global Plastics Treaty provisions that address plastic pollution at its source.
• Break Free From Plastic Communications Hub 24/7 global communications hub supporting the BFFP movement, with staff based in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States, funded by Plastic Solutions Fund.
• Funder Collaborative Convening Platform Trusted platform promoting innovative collaboration among individual and institutional philanthropists to galvanize radical, large-scale, and permanent solutions to plastic pollution, including pooling of grantmaking capital and coordinated strategy-setting.

Quantifiable outcome

• Initiated the Global Plastics Treaty
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

26 partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Tagaytay Strategy Founding OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017PSF was founded in January 2017 after NGOs, charities, foundations, and research institutes agreed on the Tagaytay Strategy to tackle plastic pollution. This founding coalition set the agenda including achieving peak plastic packaging by 2025 and eliminating non-essential uses by 2035.
• Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) MovementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSF serves as collaborators and partners alongside the 150 country-strong #BreakFreeFromPlastic movement. The BFFP movement has over 11,000 organizations and individual supporters demanding massive reductions in single-use plastics. PSF helps coordinate and fund the movement's global operations and campaigns.
• Zero Waste EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerZero Waste Europe is a pan-European organization specializing in waste and sustainability issues. They are a core member of BFFP in Europe, bringing together 31 national-level alliances and NGOs. PSF funds their work on zero waste cities, movement building, and EU policy engagement.
• Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGAIA is a worldwide alliance of more than 800 grassroots groups, NGOs, and individuals in over 90 countries working toward a just, toxic-free world without incineration. PSF funds their waste trade research, zero waste cities projects, and Asia Pacific movement coordination.
• Planet TrackersecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerA non-profit financial think tank that uses analytics to create reports redefining financial and environmental data. PSF funds their Plastics Tracker project to curtail unsustainable plastic production by providing financial institutions with risk data.
• RESOLVEsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerRESOLVE forges sustainable solutions to social, health, and environmental challenges. Their PR3 project, with founding PSF investment, created global standards for reusable packaging systems now being introduced for ANSI accreditation.
• Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal alliance of attorneys, scientists and advocates helping communities fight for clean environment. PSF funds their work to bring lawyers together across Asia and globally to develop legal strategies to break free from plastic.
• International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal network of over 600 public interest NGOs in more than 124 countries working on toxic chemicals. PSF funds their work to make the toxic nature of plastic a larger part of the mainstream policy narrative.
• Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPLAN fosters the student-led zero waste movement on college campuses with over 200 member campuses. PSF funds their Zero Waste Atlas Project to establish campus zero waste standards and the Break Free From Plastic Campus Pledge.
• Lonely WhalesecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampaign organization working to redefine the relationship with single-use plastic. PSF funds their Question How You Hydrate campaign to wake the world up to reliance on single-use plastic water bottles.
• The Story of Stuff ProjectsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerSan Francisco-based organization producing award-winning animated movies about consumption culture. PSF funds The Story of Plastic documentary and transmedia storytelling project produced in collaboration with BFFP.
• Peak Plastic FoundationsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounded by Megan Ponder and Stiv Wilson, creators and producers of The Story of Plastic film. PSF funds their work to develop cohesive BFFP movement response and just recovery demands during COVID-19.
• National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerResource organization for environmentally progressive state lawmakers in the US. PSF funds their work to guide legislators towards policies preventing plastics pollution and building state champions for action.
• EcoWaste Coalition (Philippines)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational network of more than 150 public interest groups pursuing sustainable waste solutions in the Philippines. PSF funds their anti-incineration work, post-disaster relief for zero waste communities, and national plastics campaign coordination.
• Mother Earth Foundation (Philippines)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerZero waste advocacy organization in the Philippines. Partner in Zero Waste Cities project preventing hundreds of thousands of tons of waste from entering the environment.
• Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers (AMBR)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance of mission-based recyclers including Eureka Recycling, Eco-Cycle, Ecology Center, and Recycle Ann Arbor. PSF funds their work to establish a formidable recycling counterweight to the plastics industry with new standards.
• ENVIU (Indonesia)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization building zero waste social enterprises in Indonesia. PSF funds their Zero Waste Living Lab developing scalable alternative delivery solutions in Bandung and Surabaya regions.
• Alliance for Zero Waste Indonesia (AZWI)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance of organizations in Indonesia pushing zero waste into mainstream discourse. PSF funds their work to champion zero waste solutions, pressure corporations, and reject false end-of-pipe solutions.
• Rethink Plastic AlliancesecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlliance of European NGOs with thousands of active groups across EU member states. PSF funds their work to design and deliver policy solutions for a future free from plastic pollution.
• European Environmental Bureau (EEB)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerEurope's largest network of environmental citizens' organisations with over 160 member organizations in more than 35 countries. PSF funds their work on REACH polymer registration to expose hazardous plastic properties.
• South Baltimore Community Land TrustsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity organization focused on zero waste transition in South Baltimore. PSF funds their work to build a community-led Zero Waste Coalition and break Baltimore's trash incineration addiction.
• Chintan (India)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-profit enabling informal recycling sector participation in waste management in Delhi, India. Programs employ over 1000 wastepickers collecting from over 24,000 households. PSF funds COVID-19 emergency response for waste workers.
• Corporate Europe ObservatorysecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerDutch-registered research and campaign group exposing corporate lobbying influence in EU policy making. PSF funds their work to investigate and expose irresponsible plastics industry lobbying in Europe.
• Permian Gulf Coast CoalitionsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of more than 70 grassroots environmental justice groups in Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico. PSF funds their frontline-led campaigns to stop the oil, gas, and petrochemical buildout along the US Gulf Coast.
• Mountain Watershed AssociationsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization managing the Direct Support Fund for grassroots groups working on shale gas and petrochemical issues in Appalachia. PSF provides assistance to support small grants to grassroots advocates in the region.
• Better Path Coalition (Pennsylvania)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerStatewide frontline and grassroots coalition of 30 groups in Pennsylvania. PSF funds their Pennsylvania Climate Convergence to pressure state government on greenhouse gas production from fracking.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Surfrider Foundation: Grassroots environmental nonprofit focused on ocean protection, including plastic pollution advocacy. Comparable as a BFFP movement-aligned organization working on plastic source reduction at beach and community level.
• UPSTREAM: Nonprofit designing policy and market campaigns to replace single-use packaging and reuse systems. Comparable to a recipient of PSF funding and a movement peer working on reuse infrastructure and Throw-Away-Free campaigns.

Broad incumbents

• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Environment Program): Major US philanthropic foundation funding climate and environmental initiatives including plastic pollution. Comparable as a larger grantmaking entity with overlapping grantees in the climate/environmental portfolio.
• Bloomberg Philanthropies: Large-scale philanthropic foundation active in climate and oceans. Comparable as a high-capacity grantmaker in adjacent climate/environmental cause areas with global reach.

Direct peers

• Ocean Conservancy: Major ocean-focused nonprofit operating Trash Free Seas and plastic pollution initiatives. Comparable as a large-scale nonprofit advocacy/funder in the same plastic pollution cause area with global campaigns.
• ClimateWorks Foundation: Global philanthropic platform/funder collaborative distributing grants to combat climate change. Closely comparable to PSF in operating model (funder collaborative pooling capital and regranting to aligned NGOs across geographies).
• The Audacious Project: Aggregator funding vehicle for high-impact nonprofits that has designated Plastic Solutions Fund as a featured project. Comparable as a collaborator and co-investor in scaling mission-aligned philanthropic capital.
• 5 Gyres Institute: Research and advocacy nonprofit focused on plastic pollution, particularly microplastics. Comparable to PSF as a movement-aligned organization driving plastic-pollution science and policy advocacy.
• Plastic Pollution Coalition: Global NGO coalition working to end plastic pollution. Directly comparable to PSF as both are grantmaking/coordination hubs for the same anti-plastic-pollution movement, with overlapping grantees (e.g., BFFP member organizations).
• Break Free From Plastic Movement: PSF's primary movement partner with 11,000+ member organizations across 150+ countries. Strongly comparable given deep operational and strategic entanglement with PSF, including shared grantees and joint INC negotiation work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/plastic-solutions-fund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Plastic Solutions Fund