SURFACING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS A landscape analysis of Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam FOR REDUCING MARINE PLASTIC POLLUTION2 Published by AVPN and ECCA Family Trust in November 2019 Copyright AVPN and ECCA Family Trust 2019 All data accurate as of June 2019 Email Website Author Editors knowledgeavpn.asia avpn.asia Prachi Seth Sarah Neo, Sangeetha Watson, Roshini PrakashABOUT THIS REPORT This study, undertaken by AVPN for ECCA Family Trust, focuses on Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, as four of the largest marine polluters in Southeast Asia and the world. The insights cited in this report are based on desk-based reviews and semi- structured interviews conducted with AVPN members, social purpose organisations (SPOs) and some local non-government organisations (NGOs) in these countries. The objective of this study is to examine, at a high-level, the overall waste management ecosystem and access the challenges to reduce marine plastic pollution for these four countries. The report presents a landscape of organisations and actions targeting the problem of marine plastic pollution through two dimensions (i) themes and (ii) applications. It also provides a list of funding opportunities for further consideration and exploration in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We are grateful for the support of and comments from Mette Ekeroth, General Manager (North-East Family Office) and Dr. Kannika Thampanishvong, Senior Research Fellow (Thailand Development Research Institute) in the preparation and finalisation of this report. We would also like to thank the following individuals for sharing their valuable insights during the research process: ASHWIN SUBRAMANIAM ATCHARAPOND T. CHRIS OESTEREICH CLARE SUN OH EWA WOJKOWSKA HILDA LIONATA JAN ZELLMANN AND KASIA WEINA JON KHOO KANNIKA THAMPANISHVONG SEEMA ASINA STUART HAWKINS SVEIN RASMUSSEN RAP VILLAVICENCIO ROSALINDA ROSALIE” LOPEZ-FUENTES YING STATON GA Circular Thai Plastic Recycle Group Co., Ltd Full Circle Filament SYSTEMIQ Kopernik The Nature Conservancy Evergreen Labs Net-Works Thailand Development Research Institute Trash Hero (Thailand) Coca-Cola Star-board Mother Earth Foundation Ecobricks Plastic EnergyLIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 3R 3D CAGR FCF GDP ha kg km MSW MMT 1 MT mt MW NGO PE PVC PET POP PPP SDGs SPO SWOT sq. km TDRI TNC USD WTE REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE THREE-DIMENSIONAL COMPOUNDED ANNUAL GROWTH RATE FULL CIRCLE FILAMENT GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT HECTARES KILOGRAMME KILOMETRE MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE MILLION METRIC TONNES MILLION TONNES MILLION TONS MEGA WATTS NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANISATION POLYETHYLENE POLYVINYL CHLORIDE POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE PLASTIC OFFSET PROGRAM PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS SOCIAL PURPOSE ORGANISATION STRENGTH, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS SQUARE KILOMETRE THAILAND DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH INSTITUTE THE NATURE CONSERVANCY US DOLLAR WASTE-TO-ENERGY 1. In the United States, a ton is 2,000 pounds. Outside the United States, a ton is 1,000 kilograms, or 2,204.6 pounds. To address this discrepancy in value the paper has used both units of measurements and has used Tons and Tonnes as cited in the reviewed literature. 6About this report Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Executive summary Introduction Background, policies and challenges Landscape analysis in the context of marine plastic pollution Opportunities for investment to reduce plastic waste Conclusion Opportunities in Thailand Key global frameworks and initiatives addressing marine pollution Circular economy and its role in plastic waste pollution CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPTER 4 CHAPTER 5 APPENDIX 1 APPENDIX 2 APPENDIX 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 43 38 37 29 22 14 10 478Over 8 million metric tonnes (MMT) of plastic leaks into the oceans every year. Approximately 80 percent of this comes from land-based sources such as beach litter and sewage effluent, including waste entering through rivers. About 60 percent of land-based plastic waste leakage originates in five countries, all of which are in Asia: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. In a business-as-usual scenario, these countries are likely to more than double their plastic waste by 2025. 2 Currently the plastic industry is based on an extractive industrial linear model of take, make, use and dispose. About 40 percent of plastic waste that is ineffectively managed (i.e. openly dumped, littered, channeled to uncontrolled landfills etc.) leaks into the oceans from within the region. 3This can largely be attributed to a lack of infrastructure and financing, poor public awareness, lack of or poor execution of recycling policies, illegal dumping as well as unplanned industrial development, tourism and aquaculture. Only 9 percent of the 6300 MMT of plastic produced globally from 1968 to 2015 was recycled. 4However, in recent years some organisations have started transitioning to alternative models, including creating a circular economy. This study evaluates solutions available to reduce marine plastic pollution in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The insights cited in this report are based on desk- based reviews and semi-structured interviews conducted with AVPN members and a range of social purpose organisations (SPOs), including nonprofits and social enterprises. While the scope is not exhaustive, it will:Provide desk-based landscape analysis of the current situation in these countries; EXECUTIVE SUMMARYHighlight the interventions applied so far;Identify challenges and opportunities for future social investment. Landscape of Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are fast growing emerging markets in Southeast Asia, with production and consumption of plastics increasing in lockstep. However, waste management ecosystems are largely nascent and waste collection is a logistically heavy and often poorly managed operation. Although national policies, strategies, as well as downstream programmes and projects are in place in most of our focus countries, the execution and enforcement of these policies are largely inadequate across the board. Some challenges faced include the lack of execution coordination, knowledge of policies and overlapping responsibilities within the stakeholders and institutions downstream. In most cases, source segregation tends to be poorly implemented, with the exception of the Philippines and some parts of Thailand, meaning that industrial and household waste is mostly collected by the same agencies and stored or dumped in the same landfill. Lack of sorting and a largely informal supply chain, mainly managed by waste-pickers, means that industries setting up recycling facilities struggle to establish a constant supply stream. Most of these countries have limited data and information on waste inventory, particularly for industrial and hazardous waste. There are some resources, such as the Pollution Control Departments annual report in Thailand, which provides local disaggregated data on the waste situation. However, such data are not comparable across countries or across urban- rural contexts. To our knowledge, cross-country data is not yet publicly available for analysis. 2. Jambeck et al. 2015. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean 3. Ibid 4. Geyer, R., Jambeck, J. R., and Lavender Law, Kara.2017. Production, use, and fate of all plastics ever made Opportunities for investment to reduce plastic waste Opportunities for social impact investment exist in almost all parts of the plastics value chain in Southeast Asia. This report organises the broad landscape of organisations and actions targeting the problem of marine plastic pollution into two dimensions: (i) theme, or the primary point of solution development and (ii) application, or the nature of the solution. While various themes and applications are being addressed across the focus countries, addressing upstream processes and infrastructure will be a fundamental make-or-break element in the commercial viability and scaling of any venture. The circular economy, by using plastics to their maximum value through recovering and regenerating products even after the end of their service life, is a viable alternative to the current linear plastic economy. Closed-loop circular economy initiatives are emerging amongst local communities and entrepreneurs, and their success will depend on the availability of financial and non-financial resources to scale effectively. This will include platforms and mechanisms that connect them to investors and practitioners. Although extensive studies and data are not yet available, there are sizeable opportunities to create a circular economy within the plastics value chain in Southeast Asia. Ultimately, there is scope to change waste to resource through increasing the waste recycling rate, formalising the waste management sector and investing in closed-loop technological recycling interventions such as waste-to-fuel. There is also room for front-end solutions i.e. mechanisms for waste reduction, sustainable consumption and behavioural change of stakeholders throughout the value chain. Government agencies, local communities and private sector participants need to be engaged and infrastructure developed to track data within this massive ecosystem. Finally, a shift in community behaviours will be required for lasting change. 10 Over 8 million metric tonnes (MMT) of plastic leaks into the oceans every year, and approximately 80 percent of that comes from land-based sources such as beach litter and sewage effluent including waste entering through rivers. 5At least 60 percent of litter collected from the coastlines and oceans is plastic waste. 6 Since the 1980s, there has been a sharp increase in global plastic production due to its application in modern technology, medicine, construction, INTRODUCTION automotive industry and agriculture, alongside cheap production cost and other factors (See Figure 1 below). In 2015, the global production of plastic was as high as 388 MMT. 7If this trajectory continues, it is estimated that there will be more plastic (by weight) than fish in the ocean by 2050. 8 The gravity of plastic waste is multifarious. Ecologically, it goes far beyond what we see floating on the ocean surface. In fact, 94 percent of the plastic that enters the oceans ends up GLOBAL PLASTIC PRODUCTION FIGURE 1Source: Jambeck et al. 2015. Plastic waste inputs from land into the sea MILLION METRIC TONNES (MMT) 5. McKinsey Center for Business and Environment & Ocean Conservancy. 2015. Stemming the tide: Land-based strategies for a plastic - free ocean 6. Ibid 7. UN Environment. 2018. Mapping of global plastics value chain and plastics losses to the environment: With a particular focus on marine environment 8. Ellen MacArthur Foundation. 2016. The new plastics economy rethinking the future of plasticson the seabed, with an average of about 70 kilogrammes (kg) of plastic on the sea bed for every square kilometre (sq. km). 9 Environmental impact Marine life is directly affected through the ingestion of or entanglement in debris. Ingesting marine plastic can lead to internal injury and intestinal blockage, loss of nutrition, starvation, and even death. In addition, marine creatures are increasingly getting caught or trapped in plastic waste, sometimes being smothered by it. Marine plastic pollution can also scour, mutilate, smother, and cause damage to the marine habitat, for instance, coral reefs. Social and health impact More than 80 percent of drinking tap water samples collected globally tested positive for plastic content. 10Each year, more humans and animals ingest macro, micro and nano-plastics through drinking water. While drinking water is treated in most countries, the sludge collected from this process (which contains nanoplastics) is often deposited back into the environment as fertiliser, thereby re-entering the food chain. A study conducted by Rochman et. al (2015), noted traces of anthropogenic debris in 28 percent of evaluated fish as well as 33 percent of evaluated shellfish sold for human consumption in Indonesia. 11Toxic gases also emanate from the open dumping grounds, polluting the air quality and contaminating water bodies. This, in turn, leads to health issues such as nervous system damage and respiratory problems. Economic impact The natural capital cost of plastics on the consumer goods industry is estimated to be around USD 4.7 billion per annum. 12The economic implications of marine plastic pollution include costs linked to beach and ocean clean-up, litter removal operations, loss in tourism, repair and replacement of damaged vessels as well as the reduction in fishing catches. Often, marine debris is quite large and difficult to see. If below water, these debris can damage vessels, tangle propellers or clog the intake. The tourism industry on the other hand is largely affected by the potential reduction or loss in the recreational and aesthetic values of the marine environment due to plastic pollution. The Asian face of plastic waste pollution About 60 percent of land-based plastic-waste leakage globally originates in five countries in Asia: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. 13Research by Jambeck and colleagues showed that eight 14of the ten river systems responsible for more than 90 percent of the global output of plastics that ends up in the ocean are located in heavily populated regions in Asia. 15Most of these fast-moving emerging markets have poor waste management systems which accounts for almost 40 percent of plastic waste being ineffectively managed. In a business-as-usual scenario, the global mismanaged plastic waste to marine debris rate would increase by up to 40 percent by 2025. 16 1 CHAPTER 9. McKinsey Center for Business and Environment & Ocean Conservancy. 2015. Stemming the tide: Land-based strategies for a plastic - free ocean 10. Kosuth, M., Mason, S. A., Wattenberg, E.V. 2017. Anthropogenic contamination of tap water, beer, and sea salt 11. Rochman, C. M. et al. 2015. Anthropogenic debris in seafood: Plastic debris and fibers from textiles in fish and bivalves sold for human consumption 12. World Business Council for Sustainable Development. 2017. The business case for reducing ocean waste 13. Based on the methodology adopted by McKinsey Centre for Business and Environment & Ocean Conservancy, 2015, Stemming the Tide: Land-based Strategies for a Plastic - free Ocean