Circular Economy challenges in South and Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia has been recognized as a significant hotspot for plastic pollution. One main reason is because it does not have the recycling infrastructure needed to manage the volume of waste being imported into the region from more developed countries. A recent study reveals that Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam rank among the top 10 countries globally for the highest levels of mismanaged plastics, i.e., waste that is either incinerated or sent to landfills instead of being recycled. These countries alone generate over 1.5 million metric tonnes of mismanaged plastics annually. To tackle the problem, Southeast Asian nations such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam have imposed restrictions on waste imports from Western countries and adopting a holistic framework to encourage sustainable consumption and recycling practices.

Several countries in Southeast Asia already have well-functioning waste management systems. Research shows that in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, 89 per cent of household waste is collected at least once a week.The Housing and Local Government Ministry in Malaysia is planning to establish six Waste-to-Energy plants across the country by 2025. This will reduce dependence on landfills for waste in the face of technological, labour, and infrastructure challenges. Similarly, Singapore has introduced infrastructure to promote the adoption of circular economy principles.

南亞和東南亞的循環經濟挑戰。東南亞被認為是塑膠污染的重災區。主要原因之一是該地區缺乏必要的回收基礎設施來管理從已開發國家進口的大量垃圾。最近的一項研究表明，印尼、菲律賓和越南位列全球塑膠管理不善程度最高的十個國家之列，這些國家的垃圾要么被焚燒，要么被送往垃圾掩埋場，而不是被回收。光是這些國家每年就產生超過150萬噸管理不善的塑膠。為了解決這個問題，泰國、馬來西亞和越南等東南亞國家已經對從西方國家進口的垃圾實施了限制，並建立了一套全面的框架來鼓勵永續消費和回收。

東南亞一些國家已經建立了一個運作良好的廢棄物管理系統。研究表明，在印尼、馬來西亞、菲律賓、泰國和越南，89%的家庭垃圾每週至少收集一次。馬來西亞住房和地方政府部計劃在2025年在全國建立六座垃圾焚化發電廠。這將減少在技術、勞動力和基礎設施方面面臨挑戰的情況下對垃圾掩埋場的依賴。同樣，新加坡也引進了基礎建設，以促進循環經濟原則的實施。

Source: sustainableplastics.com