What Untrash The Planet does

Untrash The Planet is a nonprofit environmental organization founded in 2025 and headquartered in Byron Bay, NSW, Australia. It operates two mission pillars: the Billion Bottle Cleanup, a global volunteer-powered initiative to remove one billion water bottles' worth of plastic waste from oceans, rivers, and beaches, and the Plastic Policy Lab, an advocacy arm focused on stopping plastic pollution at its source through industry collaboration, policy development, and campaigns such as the Plastic-Free Pasta Pledge targeting Australian pasta brands. Since 2019, the Billion Bottle Cleanup has recorded 58,082,515+ water bottles' worth of waste collected across locations in the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, and Egypt, with full public transparency on cleanup locations, volumes, and dates.

The organization's revenue model is donation-based, accepting individual contributions at four tiers ($20, $50, $100, $200) tied to measurable cleanup outcomes, alongside corporate partnerships that allow businesses to offset plastic footprints and fund restoration initiatives. Payments are processed through a Stripe-powered website portal. Go-to-market is community-led, leveraging organic social media presence across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, supplemented by email newsletters and content campaigns designed for supporter mobilization.

The organization is led by founder and CEO Mike Smith, a social entrepreneur with prior experience founding Zero Co (a zero-waste consumer brand launched in 2019). The entity is registered as Untrash The Planet Ltd, a private Australian company with no disclosed institutional investors, funding rounds, or parent company. Operational headcount stands at 18, and the organization maintains one disclosed consumer brand partnership (Lyka). It does not develop proprietary technology and operates as a community-driven movement rather than a technology platform.

Name

Untrash The Planet

Legal name

Untrash The Planet Ltd

Website

https://untrashtheplanet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2025

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Untrash The Planet is a nonprofit environmental organization founded in 2025 and headquartered in Byron Bay, Australia, that combines global ocean cleanup operations (Billion Bottle Cleanup) with plastic policy advocacy (Plastic Policy Lab), funded by individual donations and corporate partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Waste Collection (5621), Remediation Services (562910)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Pollution Control & Environmental Remediation (Booming, Skimming, Shoreline Cleanup) (TLAHAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pollution Prevention, Chemicals & Waste (incl. Plastics) (BPADALAJ), Circular Economy & Waste/Materials Reporting (Zero waste, packaging) (EUAHAJAL)

Keywords

• Ocean plastic cleanup
• Plastic pollution advocacy
• Environmental nonprofit services
• Beach river cleanups
• Plastic policy campaigns

Headquarters

HQ city

Byron Bay

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Corporate Funding: The organization generates revenue through individual donations at various tiers ($20, $50, $100, $200) that directly fund ocean cleanup operations and plastic reduction campaigns. Corporate partnerships allow businesses to offset their plastic footprint, fund global cleanups, and support restoration initiatives. Revenue is one-time transactional in nature with no recurring subscription component.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Untrash The Planet is a nonprofit environmental organization that conducts large-scale ocean, beach, and river plastic cleanups worldwide (Billion Bottle Cleanup) and runs policy advocacy campaigns to reduce single-use plastic packaging in global supply chains (Plastic Policy Lab). It funds these activities through individual donations and corporate partnerships.

Product overview

Untrash The Planet is a nonprofit environmental organization operating two core program pillars: the Billion Bottle Cleanup (a global ocean cleanup movement) and the Plastic Policy Lab (an advocacy initiative). The Billion Bottle Cleanup maintains transparent cleanup records tracking waste collection across locations worldwide. The Plastic Policy Lab runs campaigns like the Plastic-Free Pasta Pledge to eliminate plastic at its source. The organization accepts donations across four tiers ($20, $50, $100, $200) that fund cleanup operations and plastic reduction campaigns. Together, these programs form a unified mission to end plastic pollution through both cleanup action and policy advocacy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Billion Bottle Cleanup: Global cleanup initiative and mission to remove one billion water bottles' worth of plastic waste from oceans, rivers and beaches.
• Plastic Policy Lab

Products and services

• Billion Bottle Cleanup A global people-powered cleanup movement to remove one billion water bottles' worth of plastic waste from oceans, rivers and beaches. The program maintains public records of every completed cleanup, including location, waste volume, and date. It is offered to individuals (donors and volunteers) and to corporates seeking to offset their plastic footprint.
• Plastic Policy Lab An advocacy initiative focused on stopping plastic pollution at its source by identifying unnecessary plastic in supply chains, building practical alternatives with brands and researchers, and turning solutions into policy through collaboration with industry and government. Offered to brands, policymakers, and the general public.
• Plastic-Free Pasta Pledge (Australia) A campaign under the Plastic Policy Lab calling on Australian pasta brands to eliminate single-use plastic packaging, aiming to remove 100M+ plastic bags from Aussie supermarkets annually. It is offered to the general public who can sign up for campaign updates and take action via copy-and-paste emails to pasta brands and supermarkets.

Quantifiable outcome

• 58,082,515+ water bottles' worth of ocean, beach and river waste collected

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• LykaminorOthersLyka is shown as a partner (past & present) on the organization's website. The partnership appears to be a past collaboration, though specific details of the partnership arrangement are not disclosed on the website.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• WWF-Australia: WWF-Australia is a broad incumbent environmental NGO operating in Australia across marine plastics, oceans, and policy. Overlaps thematically with Untrash but at vastly greater scale and with a much broader mandate.
• Ocean Conservancy: Ocean Conservancy runs the International Coastal Cleanup, the largest volunteer cleanup program globally, and advocates on ocean policy. Overlaps directly with Untrash's cleanup operations and policy advocacy, but at far greater scale and institutional breadth.

Direct peers

• The Ocean Cleanup: The Ocean Cleanup is a direct peer focused on removing plastic from oceans and rivers using both cleanup operations and source-interception technology. Comparable on mission, publicly tracked impact metrics, and donor-supported operating model.
• Parley for the Oceans: Parley for the Oceans partners with brands (Adidas, etc.) to replace virgin plastic and runs ocean cleanup and education programs. Direct peer in the brand-partnership-driven ocean advocacy model.
• Surfrider Foundation: Surfrider Foundation combines beach cleanups, water-quality advocacy, and plastic reduction campaigns. Direct peer in the volunteer-cleanup + policy advocacy model that Untrash also runs.
• Plastic Pollution Coalition: Plastic Pollution Coalition is a global advocacy coalition pushing for source reduction of single-use plastic. Direct peer to Untrash's Plastic Policy Lab pillar on the advocacy side.
• 4ocean: 4ocean is a direct peer: a for-profit ocean cleanup operation that employs people to remove plastic from oceans and beaches, sells branded products (bracelets), and publishes verified cleanup counts. Closely comparable on mission (plastic removal), commercial model (consumer-driven funding), and transparency posture.
• Plastic Bank: Plastic Bank operates plastic collection in coastal communities and sells Plastic Credits to corporates seeking offsets. Direct peer combining cleanup logistics with corporate plastic-offset revenue, the same monetization model Untrash targets.
• Plastic Free Foundation (Plastic Free July): Plastic Free Foundation runs Plastic Free July, the largest individual-behavior-change campaign against single-use plastic, headquartered in Australia. Direct peer on the consumer-plastic-advocacy side of Untrash's Plastic Policy Lab work.

Emerging players

• Lonely Whale: Lonely Whale is a smaller ocean-focused nonprofit running corporate partnerships and campaigns (e.g., Postmates plastic straw ban, #GetTheBulbOut). Comparable emerging player operating in the same corporate-advocacy niche as Untrash's Plastic Policy Lab.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@mikesmithprojects
• Facebookfacebook.com/mikesmithprojects
• Instagraminstagram.com/mikesmithprojects
• TikToktiktok.com/@mikesmithprojects
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/untrash-the-planet

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Untrash The Planet