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Waste Management Research Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia Waste Management & Research: The Journal for a Sustainable Circular Journal: Economy Manuscript ID Draft Manuscript Type: Mini-review articles: 50,000 characters Date Submitted by the n/a Author: Complete List of Authors: Lee, Maggie Ka Ka; United Nations Environment Programme, marine litter, plastics, responsible production, Southeast Asia, credit Keywords:For Peer Review system In the Bangkok Declaration of 2019, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) vowed to significantly reduce marine litter. Efforts to reduce unnecessary plastic consumption have been seen in social movements, corporate policies and most noticeably, in regulatory control in the form of bans for specific types of single-use plastic items. Corporate engagement to manage the plastic value chain in ways that commit to the creation of circular economies is attaining popularity. The reduction of plastics in the private-sector is allegedly ongoing but intangible in Southeast Asia. While recovery and collection innovations are underway for application and picking up speed, an unfathomable rate of marine litter entering waterways is still aggravating the bigger- Abstract: thanever problem of plastic marine debris in Southeast Asia. Responsible production has long adopted the concept of credits. Carbon credits are the most notable one, while palm oil credits are also prominently purchased by manufacturers to offset any palm oil content that is not yet sourced from certified sustainable suppliers. “Plastic neutrality” in the form of credit purchasing by manufacturers could likely be the final missing piece of the puzzle picturing a circular economy. In theory, the credit system could serve as an offsetting mechanism to recover from nature an equivalent or higher amount of plastics to be produced by the credit-purchasing responsible manufacturer. This paper explores how neutrality through Plastic Credits, similar to the existing carbon and sustainable palm oil credits, could be applied in Southeast Asia. http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 1 of 27 Waste Management Research 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 For Peer Review 20 21 22 Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Waste Management Research Page 2 of 27 Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 Abstract 5 6 7 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 12: Responsible consumption and production and 14: 8 Life Below Water coincide in the targeting of the problem of plastic marine litter, which has been 9 garnering immense media attention in the recent years. In the Bangkok Declaration of 2019, the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) vowed to significantly reduce marine litter. 11 Efforts to reduce unnecessary plastic consumption have been seen in social movements, 12 corporate policies and most noticeably, in regulatory control in the form of bans for specific 13 types of single-use plastic items. A paradox exists as, arguably, civilization cannot sustain its 14 current developmental momentum without the use of plastics, especially with the COVID-19 15 16 pandemic demanding higher levels of hygiene. This is the argument that is seen coupled with 17 mass bans of single-use plastics, including packaging material and personal protective 18 equipment. Corporate engagement to manage the plastic value chain in ways that commit to the 19 creation of circular economiesFor is attaining Peer popularity. Review While reduction and substitution are being 20 considered, the status quo of the scale of the production of plastics is still expected for the next 21 few years as life cycle assessments (LCA), test trials of consumer acceptance towards novel 22 delivery mechanisms and other forms of innovation are emerging. The reduction of plastics in 23 the private-sector is allegedly ongoing but intangible in Southeast Asia. While recovery and 24 collection innovations are underway for application and picking up speed, an unfathomable rate 25 of marine litter entering waterways is still aggravating the bigger-than-ever problem of plastic 26 marine debris in Southeast Asia. 27 28 Responsible production has long adopted the concept of credits. Carbon credits are the most 29 notable one, while palm oil credits are also prominently purchased by manufacturers to offset 30 any palm oil content that is not yet sourced from certified sustainable suppliers. The concept of 31 credits for plastics has been proposed but remains much less explored than their counterparts 32 for other commodities. “Plastic neutrality” in the form of credit purchasing by manufacturers 33 could likely be the final missing piece of the puzzle picturing a circular economy. In theory, the 34 credit system could serve as an offsetting mechanism to recover from nature an equivalent or 35 higher amount of plastics to be produced by the credit-purchasing responsible manufacturer. 36 This paper explores how plastic neutrality through Plastic Credits, similar to the existing carbon 37 and sustainable palm oil credits, could be applied in Southeast Asia. 38 39 40 41 Keywords: marine litter, plastics, responsible production, Southeast Asia, credit system 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 3 of 27 Waste Management Research Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 Introduction – Credit systems to account for environmental 5 6 7 externalities 8 9 10 11 12 Credit systems have long been in the field of environmental protection – they have been 13 14 considered to provide the ethical “right to operate” for companies that wish to produce, consume 15 16 or emit certain products or by-products that are coupled with known externalities or undesirable 17 18 practices that have a negative impact on the environment (van Riel, Bush, van Zwieten, & Mol, 19 For Peer Review 20 21 2013). The most noteworthy and well-known environmental credit system is arguably the carbon 22 23 credit system. Through the purchase of credits, individuals and organizations can more 24 25 sustainably procure, produce and consume certain commodities, products or by-products and 26 27 address the environmental externalities in various ways, either by offsetting or a newer concept 28 29 that is called insetting (Gallemore & Jespersen, 2019). Carbon offsetting is normally referred to 30 31 as reducing an entity’s carbon footprint according with the amount of carbon-equivalent of 32 33 greenhouse gases (GHG) that would be produced by the entity’s value chain by purchasing 34 35 credits from an external compensation project that generates a carbon-negative effect (Cooper, 36 37 2018). On the other hand, similarly, carbon insetting offers also a reduction of carbon footprint, 38 39 40 but in this case, by compensating for the carbon footprint through projects within the value chain 41 42 of the entity (Cooper, 2018). 43 44 45 Case studies 46 47 48 1. Carbon credits – mitigating climate change 49 50 At the end of the previous millennium, the concept of offsetting was made known to the world 51 52 through the Kyoto Protocol, its objectives being to reduce GHG emissions to mitigate and 53 54 alleviate global climate crises (UNFCCC, 1997). Under the Kyoto Protocol, there are many 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Waste Management Research Page 4 of 27 Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 options from which a business entity can purchase carbon credits – one such example forestry 5 6 projects, which produce wood for fuel to replace fossil fuels and energy-intensive materials, as 7 8 well as generate trees that absorb carbon dioxide (van der Gaast, Sikkema, & Vohrer, 2016). 9 10 With the purchase of credits from projects that are reducing carbon emissions, businesses can 11 12 compensate for their emissions of greenhouse gases necessary for their planned productions 13 14 (Bumpus & Liverman, 2008). In theory, the total amount of global GHG emissions could be 15 16 17 controlled through the buying and selling of carbon credits through this trading process (Gupta, 18 19 2011). It is also importantFor to note thatPeer carbon credits Review act as supplementary ways to reduce one’s 20 21 emissions from their own controllable surroundings, be it a household, a company or a country, 22 23 and not as the primary way (Bumpus & Liverman, 2008). As per the Kyoto Protocol’s First 24 25 Commitment Period, primary carbon reduction is done in the form of an actual reduction of GHG 26 27 emissions within the respective committed nations (UNFCCC, 1997). 28 29 30 31 32 33 2. Certified sustainable palm oil credits – preventing biodiversity loss and 34 35 conserving habitats 36 37 38 Palm oil, one of the most voluminous agricultural products in the world, has been a controversial 39 40 commodity with its production methods and externalities heavily criticized (Gassler & Spiller, 41 42 2018). The most significant environmental issue linked to palm oil production is the 43 44 deforestation of primary and secondary forests (Ivancic & Koh, 2016). The negative impact of 45 46 deforestation is further amplified when taking place within the borders of the two largest palm 47 48 oil-producing countries of the world, Indonesia and Malaysia, home to approximately 11% of the 49 50 world’s remaining tropical forests and important habitats for the biodiversity-abundant area 51 52 (Ivancic & Koh, 2016).