AEPW Joins Project STOP to Tackle Plastic Waste in Indonesia

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) recently announced 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 dramatically 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.

AEPW’s three-year collaboration with Project STOP will focus on the regency of Jembrana, located on the northwest coast 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 provide financial support and technical expertise.

AEPW said the island leaks 33,000 tons of plastic into the ocean every year. A major challenge is the lack of appropriate waste management services to keep households and businesses from open burning or dumping waste into the environment. Jembrana is estimated to leak 13,200 tonnes of plastic into the environment each year, due to its population size and lack of waste and recycling infrastructure.

Launched in 2017, Project STOP is an initiative co-founded by Borealis and SYSTEMIQ that designs, implements and scales circular economy solutions to prevent plastic pollution in Southeast Asia. Working with companies, local governments and community groups, Project STOP supports cities with technical expertise to achieve zero leakage of waste, improve circular economy systems, create new jobs in waste management and reduce the harmful impact of mismanaged waste on public health, tourism and fisheries. Project STOP's long-term ambition is to establish new solutions and models that can be rapidly scaled up across the whole plastics chain, from the uses of plastic through to waste collection and recycling.

"The alliance is focusing on areas where the need to improve the management of plastic waste is urgent and where our member companies across the plastic value chain can offer technical and business expertise," said David Taylor, chairman of the board, president and CEO of Procter & Gamble, and chairman of the AEPW, in a statement. "Project STOP therefore fits perfectly into the Alliance's strategy that focuses on the four pillars: infrastructure, innovation, education and clean up. In Jembrana, we have an opportunity to work with the local community to build new waste and recycling infrastructure to prevent plastic from leaking into the environment." 

The partnership in Jembrana is Project STOP's first city partnership on the island of Bali. The project 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.

"We are proud to welcome the Alliance to End Plastic Waste as a strategic partner of Project STOP as we share a strong commitment to addressing this major global challenge and stopping the leakage of plastics into the environment," said Alfred Stern, CEO of Borealis and the co-founder of Project STOP, in a statement. "Plastics can be reused and recycled into new products, and clearly we have to develop sustainable waste management systems and circular economy models to support the socio-economic development of communities in this region."