On 7 October 2021, the Plastic Alliance Project in Vietnam launched the online campaign “Let’s Reduce Plastic Waste”, which includes a photo exhibition, several awareness raising videos and other online communication activities promoting a reduction of plastic waste and the usage of reusable bags when shopping.

A website with further information on the campaign was also introduced while latest information are shared on the social media channels of the Alliance and its members. The Plastic Alliance is among the pilot projects in Vietnam encouraging reducing and replacing single-use plastic bags in supermarkets with retailers. 

Learn more on the campaign website and the Facebook page of the Alliance.

The EU in Singapore and Singapore's Ministry for Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) held an online dialogue on ‘EPR & Beyond: Dialogue on Circular Economy’ on 30th September as part of the ongoing #ClimateDiplomacyWeeks.

The more than 140 participants were welcomed by the European Union Ambassador to Singapore, Ambassador Iwona Piórko, and discussions were opened by Director Hazri Hassan of MSE and Astrid Schomaker of the European Commission's Directorate General for the Environment. The dialogue, coordinated by 'Rethinking Plastics' then consisted of two sessions, the first exploring EPR implementation while the second covered policy tools that are equally relevant to circular economy such as Repair and Reuse and Green Public Procurement.

It was a follow up on the earlier published Circular Economy Report which analyses the circular economy policy interventions in Singapore and the EU. With this, the event reinforced the dialogue between the EU and Singapore on circular economy and paves the way for future activities in this area important for economy and the environment. 

Link to the recording

In the last months, several pilot projects of ‘Rethinking Plastics’ joined coastal clean-up activities:

• In Thailand’s Trang Province, more than 400 participants collected 3,850 kilograms of waste during community beach and ocean cleanup activities in July and August. The island of Koh Libong and the area around are important for wildlife and marine biodiversity, as it is the largest seagrass area in Thailand and home for Dugongs. The cleanup therefore also raised awareness for the negative impact of marine debris at eight communities in Koh Libong, especially in monsoon season, and promoted the conservation of the Dugong. It was organised by IUCN Thailand under their pilot project on “Enhancing circular economy model at the local level and improving municipal waste management practices and policies” in collaboration with the Trang Provincial Office, Trang Provincial Office of Natural Resources and Environment (Trang PONRE), the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR), the Save Andaman Network Foundation, and Trang FisherFolk Association.
• In Indonesia, four partners joined the EU Beach Clean Up Day 2021 in September with micro beach clean-up activities in line with COVID-19 requirements. Greeneration Foundation Indonesia (GFI), the Indonesia Diet Plastic Bag Movement (Gerakan Indonesia Diet Kantong Plastik (GIDKP)), the Misool Foundation and Destructive Fishing Watch got in action in Banjarmasin, Banyuwangi and Tegal, cleaning a Coastal Fishing Port, the beach and rivers. 

More information: 2,023 kilograms of wastes collected at Koh Libong Sub-district beach cleanup | IUCN

On 21 September 2021, the Phuket Environmental Foundation launched a Plastic Packaging-free Restaurant Model with 15 restaurants at the Prince of Songkla University, Phuket Campus to move to sustainable packaging for food delivery and take away.

On this occasion, 14 organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together towards a more sustainable and plastic packaging-free island under the project “Less Plastics in Phuket: Reduction and better Plastic Waste Management in Households and Businesses”, which is one of the 'Rethinking Plastics' pilot projects in Thailand. The signees include the Governor of Phuket, six local municipalities (Phuket City Municipality, Rawai Subdistrict Municipality, Chalong Subdistrict Municipality, Rassada Municipality, Wichit Municipality, Patong Municipality), the Phuket Provincial Office for Local Administration, the Phuket Provincial Health Assembly, the Regional Environment Office 15, the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office, the Phuket Provincial Office of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Phuket Environmental Foundation.

During the hybrid event, with participants joining both on location in Phuket as well as online, Mr. Narong Woonsiew, Governor of Phuket thanked the project partners and highlighted:

Under the Plastic Packaging-free Restaurant Model, an initial number of 15 restaurants will replace single-use plastics packaging by applying for example Pintos, the stacked food boxes used in Thailand.

“We aim that more restaurants join the model in the next months. In addition, we work with schools, hotels and communities on the island to reduce plastic waste”, outlined Mr. Viroj Phutong, Chairman of the Phuket Environmental Foundation.

Mr. Alvaro Zurita, GIZ Team Leader of the “Rethinking Plastics” project said: “The project in Phuket is a great opportunity to work jointly on solutions, to test new approaches and to learn from good practices and I am looking forward to continue the activities and exchanges on this very important topic.”

Links:
นายณรงค์ วุ่นซิ้ว ผู้ว่าราชการภูเก็ต กล่าวเปิดตัวร้านอาหารลดบรรจุภัณฑ์พลาสติกภายใต้แคมเปญ Take PINTO - YouTube
15 ร้านอาหารนำร่อง ลดบรรจุภัณฑ์พลาสติกภายใต้แคมเปญ Take PINTO - YouTube