The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) has entered a partnership with Project STOP to further scale up the development of more sustainable and circular waste management systems in Indonesia. Through Project STOP, AEPW aims to improve waste collection, bring collection services for the first time to households, create permanent local jobs in the waste management industry and clean up areas littered with plastic pollution.
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) is made up of nearly thirty major global companies, who have committed over USD 1.0 billion to deploy and bring to scale solutions that will minimize and manage plastic waste and promote post-use solutions. Launched in 2017 by Borealis and SYSTEMIQ, Project STOP (Stop Ocean Plastics) works with cities to create effective waste management systems that eliminate plastics leakage into the ocean and creates circular systems in Southeast Asia.
AEPW’s three-year collaboration with Project STOP will focus on the regency of Jembrana, located on the northwest coast of Bali. This is Project STOP’s first city partnership on the island of Bali. The Alliance will support a feasibility study to achieve a future free of unmanaged plastic waste throughout the island and to assess how to extend the approach, as well as providing financial support and technical expertise.
The project itself is designed to be economically self-sufficient within three years, so the system can be operated by the local municipality and community, both of which will be closely consulted and involved throughout the project.
The AEPW partnership with Project STOP will include the following activities:
- Conduct diagnostic studies to understand how and why plastic waste enters the Environment and designing a new, tailored system to combat it.
- Build and supply equipment to scale up waste collection and sorting efforts.
- Hire local workers at living wages and responsible working conditions to manage and staff the new waste management system.
- Partner with local organizations to encourage behavior change at the community level through awareness and educational programs, so more people fully utilize the systems being created to dispose of waste.
- Clean up beaches and rivers in consultation with the local government.
(Sources: Recycling Today; Stop Ocean Plastics)