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Charles McDermid

A new oil and chemical industry-led global alliance founded to tackle Asia’s crippling plastic waste crisis has been slammed by environmental groups as a “greenwashing” stunt.
The “Alliance to End Plastic Waste” (AEPW) consortium of more than 30 companies launched last month, dedicating a combined total of US$1 billion over the next five years – aiming for US$1.5 billion if more conglomerates join – to develop better plastic recycling practices and infrastructure around the world.
Its founding members include companies such as Chevron, Dow, Formosa Plastics, Mitsubishi Chemical, Procter & Gamble, Sumitomo Chemical, and Shell.

The group said it would start in Southeast Asia – namely in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam – the four countries that, along with China, are estimated by the Ocean Conservancy to generate more than 60 per cent of the plastic trash in oceans.
The alliance announced that it was partnering with the United Nations, the National Geographic Society and Project STOP in Indonesia, among other organisations.
These companies want to appear to be ... concerned about plastic pollution, while they continue to churn out plastics
Greenpeace Malaysia
Speaking at the launch, Laurent Auguste, vice-president of the waste management company Veolia, said Southeast Asia was the first stop because the region’s rapid development and expanding middle class had “changed consumption patterns”.
“At the same time, there has been a lack of investment in waste management and infrastructure,” Auguste said. He added that the group would work with a project called Circular Capital to provide funding for Southeast Asian entrepreneurs willing to develop collection and processing sites for recycling plastic waste.
Almost at once, the alliance drew fire from regional environmental groups over the campaign’s intent and location.
“We have reasons to be sceptical with the newly launched Alliance to End Plastic Waste, which is led by chemical and plastic industries. The conflict of interest is obvious,” said Daniel Alejandre of the EcoWaste Coalition in the Philippines.
“Can we expect this alliance to ditch single-use plastics in favour of sustainable packaging and delivery systems that will conserve resources and stop chemical and plastic pollution of our oceans? The answer is probably not.”
He continued: “Also, we fear that their US$1 billion pledge will only be used for cosmetic waste management projects to conceal the real problem and block the real solution.”

‘AN ASIAN PROBLEM’
Since China banned plastic waste imports in January 2018, Southeast Asia has become the world’s dumping ground. In just one example, Thailand had a 2,000-per-cent jump in the imports of US plastic waste in the first six months of 2018.
In November, Greenpeace Malaysia issued a statement: “The Malaysian plastic recycling industry is overwhelmed by the influx and cannot accommodate waste in a way that is sustainable and acceptable by the government’s own standards.” The group said that Malaysia had become a trash bin for plastic recycling from more than 19 countries, including the US, the UK and Australia.


“It seems that the illegal entry of plastic garbage from overseas in the guise of recycling has aggravated our woes,” said Alejandre of the Manila-based EcoWaste Coalition. “We have seen that plastic waste no longer allowed to enter China is now being sent to countries in Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, for so-called recycling – but it is rarely retrieved or recycled.”
Data from the Korea Custom Service showed that waste exports to the Philippines increased from 4,398 tons in 2017 to 11,588 tons in 2018 after Beijing’s ban.
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According to Greenpeace Malaysia, 90 per cent of plastic waste is exported from high-income countries, but only 9 per cent of it is recycled. Roughly 12 per cent is burned, it said, and the rest – roughly 80 per cent – ends up in landfills, oceans or the environment.
Southeast Asia government’s have started to react. In the past few months, the Philippines has twice shipped back exported plastic waste from South Korea. In July, Vietnam banned new licenses for the import of waste and took measures against illegal shipments. In October, Thailand said it would stop plastic waste imports by 2021, and Malaysia announced that it would permanently ban plastic waste imports in same timeframe.


The AEPW, which includes some of the biggest global plastics giants, said it was formed to fight the problem.
“Everyone agrees that plastic waste does not belong in our oceans or anywhere in the environment. This is a complex and serious global challenge that calls for swift action and strong leadership,” said David Taylor, the chief executive Procter & Gamble, and chairman of the AEPW, in a launch statement.
“This new alliance is the most comprehensive effort to date to end plastic waste in the environment.”
But environmentalists were having none of it.
In Indonesia, cleaning up the Citarum, ‘the world’s dirtiest river’, is now a military operation
“We consider this alliance a greenwashing operation. It’s like the firefighters who started the fire,” said Tom Zoete, a spokesman for the Brussels-based Recycling Netwerk, referring to the practice of an industry or company trying to appear to be more environmentally friendly than it actually is.
“As for Southeast Asia, there are two possible answers for why they are starting there. You could argue that you could make a bigger difference in the countries that don’t have developed waste-disposal systems.
“But we think there is another agenda: focusing on Southeast Asia is a way to tell the US and western Europe that this crisis is far away – it’s an Asian problem.”

A DEAFENING SILENCE
Among the many critics of AEPW, the most vocal has been Greenpeace, the Amsterdam-based environmental watchdog.
Its Malaysia affiliate told the Post that many of the members who pledged US$1 billion to fight plastic waste also “invested US$186 billion between 2010 and 2017 into new facilities for plastic production”.
“These companies want to appear to be environmentalists concerned about plastic pollution, while they continue to churn out plastics for profit. Fossil fuel companies plan to expand plastic production by 40 per cent in the coming years, locking us into decades of worsening plastic pollution,” the group said in an email this week to the Post.
“Corporations are attempting to make themselves look green, but we know this is really about protecting their bottom line. The only way to keep plastics out of our environment is to stop producing so much to begin with.”


Graham Forbes, the head of Greenpeace Global Plastics, was even more direct when the AEPW was formed: “This is a desperate attempt from corporate polluters to maintain the status quo on plastics. Make no mistake about it: plastics are a lifeline for the dying fossil fuel industry, and today’s announcement goes to show how far companies will go to preserve it.”
Yet Laurent Auguste, the head of Veolia, was quoted as saying that the AEPW is not just about making “lofty commitments” before going back to the plastics business. And Peter Baker, chief executive of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, called the AEPW campaign “unprecedented in size, in scope, in positions in the sector and geographic spread”.
China is forcing small-town America to stop recycling
“History has shown us that collective action and partnerships between industry, governments and NGOs can deliver innovative solutions to a global challenge like this,” said Bob Patel, chief executive of LyondellBasell, and a vice-chairman of the AEPW.
“The issue of plastic waste is seen and felt all over the world. It must be addressed and we believe the time for action is now.”
Even so, amid the accusations of greenwashing, the AEPW has been quiet. It has made few public statements since its launch and multiple request for comment by the Post were ignored.
The silence has left some industry insiders wondering, what’s next?

Steve Alexander, president of the Association of Plastic Recyclers, pointed out that industry-led campaigns such as this have been around for 30 years. This time, he said, the AEPW appears “aware of the situation in Southeast Asia, and the focus is pretty direct”.
“Tremendous anti-plastic sentiment that has percolated up. They are very aware of the situation,” Alexander said.
“What’s intriguing to me, is that the big brands have aligned themselves with the project. And though they won’t really be negatively affected if it doesn’t work, it make a big difference. They’re admitting it and are being the face of it: they put their chins out there.
“This is good start,” he said. “It sure as heck beats not doing anything.”


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Environment

Dozens of companies launch US$1 billion bid to end plastic pollution in Asia but environmentalists dismiss it as ‘greenwashing’ stunt

Since China banned plastic waste imports in January 2018, Southeast Asia has become the world’s dumping ground. Photo: AFP

(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 19, 2017 shows rubbish collectors using heavy equipment to clear plastic trash on Kuta beach near Denpasar, on Indonesia's tourist island of Bali. Millions of tourists are drawn to Bali's palm-fringed scenery and rich marine life, but a British diver has released stark footage highlighting a growing problem in its famously crystal-clear waters: plastic rubbish. / AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKA

This picture taken on June 1, 2018 shows a vendor selling food packed in plastic bags in Bangkok. About eight million tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into the world's oceans every year - the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic being tipped into the sea every minute... of every day. Over half comes from five Asian countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, according to a 2015 study in Science journal. / AFP PHOTO / Romeo GACAD

Plastic trash in Bali. Photo: Reuters

epa02981836 An undated handout image provided by Royal Dutch Shell on 27 October 2011 in London, Britain, shows a Shell worker at a petrol station. Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell reported 27 October a doubling of profits to 7.2 billion dollars in the third quarter of the current financial year. The figure for the three months up to the end of September compares with a profit of 3.5 billion dollars for the same period a year ago. EPA/ROYAL DUTCH SHELL/HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

This picture taken on May 16, 2018 shows a man packing plastic bottles at a plastic waste centre on the outskirts of Beijing. About eight million tonnes of plastic waste are dumped into the world's oceans every year - the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic being tipped into the sea every minute... of every day. Over half comes from five Asian countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, according to a 2015 study in Science journal. / AFP PHOTO / Fred DUFOUR

In Indonesia, cleaning up the Citarum, ‘the world’s dirtiest river’, is now a military operation

The clogged Citarum river, West Java, Indonesia. Pictures: James Wendlinger

Adi Mulyadi, Head of Pawapeling poses for a photograph in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. SCMP / James Wendlinger [FEATURES 2018]

Rubbish collected near the Citarum river.

Pollution on Citarum River near Curug Jompong, West Java, Indonesia. SCMP / James Wendlinger [FEATURES 2018]

Colonel Purwadi head of the Citarum Task Force Sector 7 at the Communal Waste Water Treatment Plant in Cisirung, West Java, Indonesia. SCMP / James Wendlinger [FEATURES 2018]

Rubbish collector works on Citarum River, West Java, Indonesia. SCMP / James Wendlinger [FEATURES 2018]

Communal Waste Water Treatment Plant in Cisirung, West Java, Indonesia. SCMP / James Wendlinger [FEATURES 2018]

Ramdan from Walhi NGO poses for a photograph, West Java, Indonesia. SCMP / James Wendlinger [FEATURES 2018]

Usep Supriadi shows his skin disease at Balekambang village, West Java, Indonesia. SCMP / James Wendlinger [FEATURES 2018]

New year but no new resolutions when it comes to plastic waste as Hongkongers turn their backs on reusable containers and cutlery

Non recyclable plastic tableware used at the Lunar New Year fair market at Victoria Park, Causeway Bay. 01FEB19 SCMP / Xiaomei Chen

Kate Lin, a senior campaigner for Greenpeace, has been urging Hongkongers to go green at the Lunar New Year fair in Victoria Park. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Welcome to Tokyo’s Gome Pit: a pop-up bar in a rubbish dump designed to make drinkers think about sustainability

The Gomi Pit bar in Tokyo. Photo: AFP

This photo taken on January 18, 2019 shows a customer holding a drink while watching an enormous crane pick up rubbish for incineration at a combustible waste pit at the "Gomi Pit" bar in Tokyo. - The pop-up bar -- called Gomi (trash) Pit -- is the initiative of local officials who are trying to promote their state-of-the-art facility and prod local residents to think about the waste they produce. (Photo by Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP) / TO GO WITH Japan-waste-social-environment,FEATURE by Sara Hussein

This photo taken on January 18, 2019 shows customers watching an enormous crane pick up rubbish for incineration at a combustible waste pit while having a drink and snack at the "Gomi Pit" bar in Tokyo. - The pop-up bar -- called Gomi (trash) Pit -- is the initiative of local officials who are trying to promote their state-of-the-art facility and prod local residents to think about the waste they produce. (Photo by Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP) / TO GO WITH Japan-waste-social-environment,FEATURE by Sara Hussein

Trashed: China is forcing small-town America to stop recycling, by refusing to buy mountains of contaminated waste

Chinese workers unload used plastic bottles for recycling at a plastic material factory in Wuhan, in this 2010 file photo. Photo: AFP

Workers sort recycling material at the Waste Management Material Recovery Facility in Elkridge, Maryland, June 28, 2018. For months, this major recycling facility for the greater Baltimore-Washington area has been facing a big problem: it has to pay to get rid of huge amounts of paper and plastic it would normally sell to China. Beijing is no longer buying, claiming the recycled materials are "contaminated." / AFP PHOTO / SAUL LOEB

A block of compressed plastic bottles are seen at a plastic waste centre on the outskirts of Beijing on May 16, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Fred DUFOUR [15JULY2018 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE] CREDIT / ALAMY

(FILES) This file photo taken on September 17, 2015 shows a Chinese labourer sorting out plastic bottles for recycling in Dong Xiao Kou village, on the outskirt of Beijing. For years China was the world's top destination for recyclable trash, but a ban on certain imports has left nations scrambling to find new dumping grounds for growing piles of garbage. The decision was announced in July and came into force on January 1, 2018 giving companies from Europe to the United States barely six months to look for other options, and forcing some to store trash in parking lots. / AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR / - China OUT / TO GO WITH AFP STORY "CHINA-WASTE-RECYCLING" FOCUS BY BECKY DAVIS AND LILLIAN DING, WITH AFP BUREAUX IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES

Hotels grasping at straws as war on plastic rages – is it too little too late?

Plastic waste being sorted for recycling.

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Since China banned plastic waste imports in January 2018, Southeast Asia has become the world’s dumping ground
Thailand had a 2,000 per cent jump in the imports of US plastic waste in the first six months of 2018


Since China banned plastic waste imports in January 2018, Southeast Asia has become the world’s dumping ground


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