Country Focus
Southeast Asia rises to the circular economy challenge Low recycling rates and recoverability of high-value resources from plastic wastes are major roadblocks for circular agendas of countries in the Southeast Asian region. One country that is taking the leap is Malaysia, says Angelica Buan in this article. ASEAN pushed to recycling goals Southeast Asia, or the ASEAN, is not an outlier in the global circular economy movement. Indeed, the circular economy, along with security and trade cooperation, is usually at the forefront of issues at regional meetings. But making the circular economy agenda successful is a different story. The region, which is a large consumer and producer of petroleum-based plastics, has to meet its recycling goals, simply because the growing volume of municipal solid waste (MSW), primarily from households, commercial and industrial sources, and other human activities, is becoming too much to handle. Of the ten countries in the ASEAN bloc, Indonesia is estimated to generate the highest quantity of MSW with 64 million tonnes/year, followed by Thailand at 26 million tonnes and Vietnam at 22 million tonnes. The Philippines,
ASEAN, a large consumer and producer of petroleum-based plastics must meet its recycling goals by increasing recycling rates
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DECEMBER 2021
Malaysia, Myanmar and Laos generated between nearly 8-15 million tonnes/year, according to data published in the Waste Management in ASEAN countries report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2017. As it stands, sanitary landfills and open dumps are the most common forms of waste management. Recycling rates in the region are falling short of targets, owing to inefficient disposal methods and the lack of recycling infrastructure and technologies. It’s not surprising that viable materials from recycled plastics aren't recovered. An initiative, the ASEAN Regional Action Plan (RAP), launched in May this year as a response to mismanaged plastic wastes and marine debris, calls for more drastic measures to improve collection, reduce plastic inputs into the system, prevent leakage of plastic scraps into the environment, and create value for waste reuse. The action plan proposes for guidelines to phase out single-use plastics (SUPs), harmonise regional policies on recycling and plastics packaging standards, and improve regional marine debris monitoring. Billions of missed opportunities from waste A recent dismal finding is that only roughly 25% of plastics available for recycling in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand are recycled into valuable materials, including SUPs that are discarded rather than recycled, according to a World Bank report. As a result, more than 75% of the material value of plastics has been lost, amounting to US$6 billion per year in the three countries. The recent World Bank report, on the situation of marine debris in Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines, is framed in the context of the economic opportunities in plastic circularity. The report states that this is not only a waste of natural resources and a missed opportunity for local industries, but it's also a significant missed opportunity for these countries to improve their trade balance by creating jobs and earning foreign
