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
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Manuscript Type: Mini-review articles: 50,000 characters
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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.
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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). Other environmental detriments associated with palm oil production 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 5 of 27 Waste Management Research
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 include the slashing and burning that produce haze and GHG emissions and irreversible 5 6 conversion of peatland to plantations that lead to biodiversity decline (Lam & Lee, 2011). 7 8 9 In response to a pressing global call for sustainably produced palm oil and to promote 10 11 sustainable palm oil and oil palm products through a reviewed set of standards, the Roundtable 12 13 on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was founded in 2004 by the World Wide Fund for Nature 14 15 (WWF) and producers and buyers of palm oil (Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, 2020). 16 17 Within the multilayered system of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil classification, RSPO 18 19 offers a credit system as Foran entry pointPeer to sustainable Review palm oil sourcing of which buyers of palm 20 21 oil could choose to buy in lieu of physical certified sustainable palm oil (RSPO, 2020). According 22 23 24 to RSPO, by buying credits, buyers of palm oil would contribute to the creation of a higher 25 26 demand for sustainable palm oil products in the global market. 27 28 Palm oil credits were marketed under the GreenPalm system until 2017 (Roundtable for 29 30 Sustainable Palm Oil, 2020). Since then, RSPO Credits, also known as Book & Claim, have 31 32 33 been sold to buyers of palm oil (RSPO, 2020). In the context of crude palm oil, one RSPO 34 35 Credit represents one metric tonne of certified sustainable palm oil distinctively produced by 36 37 independent smallholders. Every credit that is purchased would provide a premium to a 38 39 producer that has produced one metric tonne of palm oil in accordance to the RSPO Principles 40 41 and Criteria (Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, 2020). Benefits of the palm oil credit system 42 43 for the buyer include having no sourcing changes from the supply chain point-of-view – the 44 45 organization could offset up to the entirety of their palm oil supply through purchasing the full 46 47 volume of their palm oil consumption in RSPO Credits, in the meantime, the supply chain does 48 49 not need to adopt any actual changes and replace all of their raw materials composed of oil 50 51 52 palm to RSPO certified sustainable palm oil alternatives. The downsides for the sustainability of 53 54 palm oil production in having the credits is that while buyers of RSPO Credits have offset their 55 56 palm oil supply with the credits, the actual demand for physical certified sustainable palm oil 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Waste Management Research Page 6 of 27
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 would not change until the buyer commits to a sourcing change to physically adopt RSPO 5 6 certified sustainable palm oil. 7 8 9 10 11 12 Background: Plastic marine litter crisis and solutions thus far 13 14 15 16 17 18 Plastic marine litter has been reported as an environmental problem as early as the 1970s 19 For Peer Review 20 (Bergmann, Gutow, & Klages, 2015). Using current growth figures for future projections, the flow 21 22 of plastic into the ocean per year will almost triple by the year 2040 to 29,000,000 metric tons, 23 24 which equals to having 50 kg of plastic litter per metre of coastline across the world (Pew 25 26 Charitable Trusts, SYSTEMIQ, 2020). East Asia and the Pacific, inclusive of Southeast Asia, is 27 28 the source of an astounding 60.6% of global mismanaged plastic waste (Ritchie, 2018). Five of 29 30 the top ten countries with the highest mass of mismanaged plastic waste are in Southeast Asia 31 32 (Jambeck, et al., 2015). In Malaysia, for instance, land-based marine litter, ranging from 1 to 30 33 34 35 mm in size, are abundant in the beaches (Fauziah, Liyana, & Agamuthu, 2015). There are 36 37 arguments that plastic marine litter is a problem of waste management, as studies show that 38 39 land-based marine litter has increased over the last few decades (Bergmann, Gutow, & Klages, 40 41 2015). Yet leakage is not the only cause of the problem, the continued growth of plastic 42 43 consumption, despite the issue of marine litter coming into public knowledge in recent years, is 44 45 the contested top cause of increased plastic marine litter. Plastic leakage in oceans will continue 46 47 to be over 9,000,000 metric tons per year until 2030 due to the discrepancy between the growth 48 49 in waste management capacity with the even faster growth in plastic consumption (WWF, 50 51 2019). 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 7 of 27 Waste Management Research
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 After the Fifth International Marine Debris Conference held in Honolulu in 2011, a framework for 5 6 comprehensive and global effort to reduce ecological, human health, and economic impacts of 7 8 marine litter was created – the Honolulu Strategy (UNEP and NOAA, 2011). In the Honolulu 9 10 Strategy document, the first of 3 goals that were identified as the components of the strategic 11 12 framework is Goal A: Reduced amount and impact of land-based sources of marine debris 13 14 introduced into the sea (UNEP and NOAA, 2011). Contributing to Goal A are 7 sub-strategies, 15 16 17 none of which include any ideas for the reduction of the production of plastics, while the 18 19 reduction of solid waste wasFor mentioned Peer aplenty Reviewas a recommended way to prevent marine litter 20 21 (UNEP and NOAA, 2011). From around 2015, the discussion of marine litter solutions has 22 23 significantly shifted from education and the collection or recovery of marine debris to circular 24 25 economy and accountability of producers of plastics (WWF, 2019; Williams & Rangel-Buitrago, 26 27 2019). 28 29 30 Legislative interventions, including bans and levies on the consumption of day-to-day, free to 31 32 obtain disposable plastic items, became a popular approach for countries around the globe. 33 34 Recent studies have argued that the curbing of vast amounts of plastic waste produced is a 35 36 much-needed measure to address the growing marine litter problem (Walker & Xanthos, 2018; 37 38 Gallo, et al., 2018). The impetus to legally limit the amount of single-use plastics produced is 39 40 driven by the growing voice from the international academic community, calling for governments 41 42 to intervene by imposing sophisticated policy frameworks from the points of design and 43 44 45 production (ten Brink, et al., 2018; Gallo, et al., 2018). As of July 2018, 127 countries out of 192 46 47 countries studied have adopted some form of regulation or measure for plastic bags (UNEP, 48 49 2019). To name a few examples in Asia, India has imposed bans on plastic bags in 2002 and 50 51 2005, while Hong Kong has adopted a plastic bag levy as early as 2009 (Xanthos & Walker, 52 53 2017). Nevertheless, no significant legislative change has been seen in the area of consumer 54 55 product packaging so far. Despite the recent effort to escalate legislative intervention to prevent 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Waste Management Research Page 8 of 27
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 marine litter, studies have identified potential gaps, which include the limits of existing policy 5 6 instruments, deficiencies in the legislation and poor enforcement of regulations, sporadic 7 8 international or regional cooperation and the lack of science-based data on marine litter 9 10 (Bergmann, Gutow, & Klages, 2015). In Southeast Asia, namely the Association of Southeast 11 12 Asian Nations (ASEAN), the legislative framework for packaging material sustainability is non- 13 14 existent, while rapid population growth and economic development leading to increased 15 16 17 consumption in the region is leading to severe deficiencies of standards in prevention of plastic 18 19 marine litter (UNEP SEA Forcircular, 2019).Peer Review 20 21 A region of numerous success stories in achieving very high recycling rates, the European 22 23 24 Union (EU) has strategies to address the planned targets throughout the plastic supply chains 25 26 from an end-to-end point of view – beginning with product design to covering post-consumer 27 28 and end-of-life, by means of stimulating regional capacity of recycling and warranting demand 29 30 for recycled plastics, as well as implementing legislature (Filho, et al., 2019). Extended producer 31 32 responsibility (EPR) schemes, first introduced by Thomas Lindhqvist in 2000, have had positive 33 34 effects on recycling rates in countries that have refined implementation to mandate the 35 36 collection and ensure technical recyclability (Lindhqvist, 2000; Filho, et al., 2019). Solutions that 37 38 connect known working schemes together are much necessary as other remedies continue to 39 40 show no progress with marine debris reduction. 41 42 43 44 45 46 Circular economy development in Southeast Asia 47 48 Grass-root movement in the developed world has been even more demanding than 49 50 51 recommendations by academia – there are now challenges for zero-waste lifestyles, mass 52 53 criticism directed towards manufacturers and retailers on the amount of plastics in their 54 55 products, and even businesses that have committed to drastic reductions in plastics (Jennings, 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 9 of 27 Waste Management Research
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 2019). Moreover, in the search for alternatives to replace plastics, studies have shown that 5 6 properties of plastic polymers that protect food products outweigh known environmental costs of 7 8 alternatives, such as water and energy consumption, in LCAs (Abejon, Bala, Vázquez-Rowe, 9 10 Alcado, & Fullana-i-Palmer, 2020; Humbert, Rossi, Margni, Jolliet, & Loerincik, 2009). 11 12 Reusability became a topic of discussion among consumers who are conscious of their plastic 13 14 footprint. Non-packaging single-use plastic items, most notably, cups for made-to-order 15 16 17 beverages and plastic bags for groceries, have been widely suggested to be replaced by “bring- 18 19 your-own” reusables sinceFor the early Peer 2010s (Wabnitz Review & Nichols, 2010). As for on-product 20 21 packaging, Accorsi et al. have conducted LCAs on reusable containers for food catering and 22 23 compared results with conventional single-use material such as plastics. Results indicate that 24 25 the environmental impact of reusables is highly dependent on disposal policies and 26 27 transportation (Accorsi, Cascini, Cholette, Manzini, & Mora, 2014). As for perishables, 28 29 pharmaceutical and medical products, and other products that rely on individual or pressure- 30 31 resistant packaging, no peer-reviewed LCA research has been found on reusable packaging, 32 33 possibly due to lack of practical alternatives. To strike a balance between impactful reductions in 34 35 plastic packaging use and other environmental costs such as carbon footprint in logistics and 36 37 38 food waste, businesses are stuck between a rock and a hard place, as few researchers can 39 40 proclaim that the plastic marine litter crisis should be prioritized over global climate crises. In 41 42 addition to all environmental concerns, economic feasibility is an impenetrable wall that new 43 44 solutions, no matter how environmentally friendly, cannot traverse unless they offer pricing that 45 46 is remotely competitive compared with plastics. 47 48 49 In one study conducted in five countries in Southeast Asia, 91% of consumers consider 50 51 themselves concerned about plastic waste issues, while only 38% are interested to recycle or 52 53 convert their waste into useful products (UNEP SEA circular, 2020). Consumer action to recycle 54 55 alone would not be sufficient to create a circular economy for plastics in Southeast Asia. It is 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Waste Management Research Page 10 of 27
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 necessary to have a system in which businesses are incentivized to adopt recycled material, 5 6 and therefore create demand for recycling. Southeast Asian private-sector concern about plastic 7 8 waste issues is reassuring – 82% of surveyed businesses feel extremely concerned, while fewer 9 10 than half feel their current efforts are enough to mitigate the problem (UNEP SEA circular, 11 12 2020). 13 14 15 16 17 18 Discussion: Plastic neutrality – a marine litter prevention 19 For Peer Review 20 21 proposition for plastic-generating businesses in Southeast Asia 22 23 24 25 26 Multinational corporations (MNCs) such as German-headquartered consumer goods giant 27 28 Henkel and Swiss-based pharmaceutical mogul Novartis have published global “zero-waste” or 29 30 31 “plastic neutral” sustainability goals on packaging, namely becoming zero-waste by 2025 32 33 through closed-loop recycling and plastic neutral by 2030, respectively (Henkel, 2020; Novartis, 34 35 2020). However, with prices of crude oil, the petrochemical raw material for plastics, reaching an 36 37 Current plastic value chain management Future plastic value chain management 38 39 40 41 42 Measure Commit 43 • Why marine litter and plastic • Transparency - report annual • Partner with local waste management is a consumption organizations and solution- crisis providers for alternative • Understand concept of plastic • Examine options • Set achievable time-bound 44 material development and/or • The role plastic value chain footprint • Contribute to overall goals for reduction or measurement and circular recovery offsetting credits • Calculate consumption by metadata for regional waste conversion 45 economy plays in tackling polymer type and management • Set time-bound goal for the problem recyclability by use plastic neutrality 46 • Establish baselines for later • Publicize goals (i.e.: in 47 improvement annual reports) 48 Understand Disclose Collaborate 49 50 51 52 Figure 1 Proposed step-by-step strategy for Southeast Asian businesses to become plastic neutral 53 54 all-time low at negative price points (Apergis & Apergis, 2020), the relatively infinitesimal cost to 55 56 manufacture virgin plastics is driving recycled plastic out of competition, rendering recycling an 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 11 of 27 Waste Management Research
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 irrelevant and undesirable process. Heightened difficulty to source quality recycled plastic could 5 6 hinder businesses to commit further towards plastic neutrality. 7 8 9 A series of steps inclusive of understanding, measuring, and disclosing current plastic footprint, 10 11 and committing and collaborating to reduction and neutrality is proposed to form an overall 12 13 strategy to facilitate Southeast Asian business commitments towards a circular economy and 14 15 plastic neutrality (Figure 1). While the first two steps are widely adopted by multinational MNCs, 16 17 the necessity of managing a business’ plastic value chain is still a nascent concept in Southeast 18 19 Asia. The final step in currentFor plastic Peer value chain Review management is adopting transparency in the 20 21 form of publicizing plastic footprint, for instance, in sustainability and/or annual reports. After 22 23 24 businesses take up management of their current plastic value chains, time-bound commitments 25 26 towards plastic neutrality would be the most important subsequent step. 27 28 In this paper, plastic neutrality is defined as: 29 30 31 1) adopting 100% post-consumer, recycled material, and/or; 32 33 2) recovery and recycling of legacy plastic debris in nature or landfills, to the extent of the 34 35 entire plastic footprint by offsetting or insetting 36 37 38 39 40 By committing to plastic neutrality, businesses would have more incentives to reduce current 41 42 plastic footprint, so as to ease future transitioning difficulty in becoming plastic neutral. It is 43 44 important to note that by reducing plastic footprint, especially that of items such as food 45 46 47 containers, environmental externalities such as GHG emissions could be reduced (Yano, Hirai, 48 49 & Sakai, 2014). Existing plastic value chain transforming programs for businesses in Southeast 50 51 Asia, such as WWF-Singapore’s Plastic ACTion (PACT), encourage businesses to commit to 52 53 reduce plastic footprint and to plastic neutrality by 2030 (WWF-Singapore, 2020). 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Waste Management Research Page 12 of 27
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 Plastic Credit system – standardized marine debris recovery ledger 5 6 While reductions of plastic consumption require value chains reimagined, recovery of plastics 7 8 has a much lower technical hurdle. Beach/coastal and waterway cleanups have been gaining 9 10 11 popularity in corporate social responsibility programs. Some speculate that such activities under 12 13 the attention-grabbing name of combatting marine litter are desirable for the “photograph 14 15 opportunities” they offer (Stafford & Jones, 2019). In fact, the efficacy of beach cleanups as a 16 17 solution for marine debris has been observed to be dependent on many factors, such as the 18 19 input period and oceanic Forseasonal Peervariations (Kataoka Review & Hinata, 2015). Regardless of the 20 21 intention of corporate-sponsored beach cleanups, it is undeniable that any removal of plastic 22 23 from nature, no matter how little, is facilitative to resolving the problem and should be 24 25 encouraged. Despite so, unassuming consumers may not be able to differentiate the efficacy of 26 27 a quarterly beach clean-up from a time-bound plastic neutrality goal. 28 29 30 With the primary objective of mainstreaming recovery of plastics in nature and secondary 31 32 objectives of widening the supply base of recyclates so to stimulate recycling, a Plastic Credit 33 34 ledger system is proposed as part of the business strategy (Figure 1). 35 36 37 Prerequisites for adopting Plastic Credits 38 39 40 Plastic neutrality must not be the first step in plastic footprint stewardship. Businesses looking to 41 42 declaring plastic neutrality through Plastic Credits must already have a plan to reduce their 43 44 plastic footprint through plastic value chain measurement and management – inclusive of, but 45 46 not limited to, circular designs and material selection based on LCA results. This is analogous to 47 48 how carbon credits are only supplementary to the overall GHG reductions necessary for any 49 50 entity. 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 13 of 27 Waste Management Research
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 Plastic value chains should undergo all prerequisite steps listed below before proceeding to 5 6 Removal of all unnecessary plastics 7 Example: removing bottle cap sealing films when tamper-proof caps are used 8 9 Removal of all unrecyclable, problematic plastic polymers 10 Example: replacing polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with recyclable alternatives, such as HDPE 11 12 Life-cycle assessments (LCAs) 13 to determine the material with lowest overall environmental impact 14 15 Adoption of Plastic Credits to achieve plastic neutrality 16 Figure 2 Prerequisite steps plastic value chains should undergo prior to adopting Plastic Credits 17 18 neutralization through Plastic Credits (Plastic materials: polyvinyl chloride (PVC), 2012): 19 For Peer Review 20 21 These steps are necessary to ensure that plastic value chains are life-cycle optimized. 22 23 Moreover, they provide the assurance that, prior to opting for neutralization, businesses have 24 25 undertaken due diligence by minimizing the environmental impact of any unavoidable plastic 26 27 footprint. 28 29 30 Properties of the Plastic Credits 31 32 33 The Plastic Credit system’s key objective is to help businesses quantify the extent of 34 35 neutralization of their plastic footprint either by offsetting, by means of activities financially 36 37 supported but separate from the corporation’s core business, or insetting, from plastic-recovery 38 39 activities like beach cleanups conducted by employees. Conditions adhering to the issuance of 40 41 Plastic Credit include that the recovered PCPW must be: 42 43 1) recyclable (i.e.: acceptable by a local recycler to be recycled), and 44 45 2) recovered from sites not regarded as formal disposal sites. 46 47 48 Akin to how the carbon credit aligns all GHG to a carbon-equivalent ratio, the Plastic Credit 49 50 system needs to have a basic measurement unit to standardize all recyclable plastic polymers, 51 52 possibly with what is commonly regarded as the most recycled, highly versatile polymer 53 54 polyethylene terephthalate (PET/PETE). As seen in the RSPO palm oil credit system, the 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Waste Management Research Page 14 of 27
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 Plastic Credit system must also be governed by a centralized standards body that maintains the 5 6 standard with principles and criteria reviewed regularly and LCAs performed as necessary to 7 8 ensure the ledger does not fall into obsolescence due to new technologies emerging in recycling 9 10 and alternative production. 11 12 13 Polymer-specific and recyclability-based compensation 14 15 Recyclability of plastic polymers is largely dependent on the polymer type, as well as the form of 16 17 the original plastic item (Faraca & Astrup, 2019). Out of the roughly 30 types of materials that 18 19 are in the family of plastics,For there arePeer 4 polymers Review that have consistently reputed recycling values 20 21 22 in Southeast Asia, especially in Singapore – polyethylene terephthalate (PET), low-density 23 24 polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) (Singapore 25 26 Environment Council, 2018). The ledger should be based on the type of polymer, which further 27 28 enhances traceability and reliability to enable closed-loop recycling. 29 30 31 Recyclability is hinged on the profits generated from sales of recycled material, whereby 32 33 recyclers may reject materials that require too much processing (cleaning, sorting, etc.) for the 34 35 overall recycling to be economically worthwhile. With no segregated collection for PCPW, 36 37 recyclers resort to manual or technical sorting, which is an energy-intensive process that 38 39 requires high initial investment in machinery and high maintenance costs (Feil, Pretz, & Jansen, 40 41 2016). Therefore, compensation should be linked to recyclability by the batch – recovery 42 43 materials that have a higher possibility of having a “next life” would result in higher 44 45 compensation rates. 46 47 48 Involvement of informal sector, coastal and affected communities 49 50 51 The centralized Plastic Credit standards body should also safeguard social aspects of the 52 53 credits. The collective of individuals and groups engaged in waste services, but are not funded, 54 55 recognized or formally allowed to perform such activities by the authorities are referred to as the 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 15 of 27 Waste Management Research
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 informal sector (Aparcana, 2017). The informal sector’s agility and widespread coverage have 5 6 been found to add value to formal solid waste collection in Southeast Asia (Romallosa & Kraft, 7 8 2017; Hoang, Ishigaki, Kubota, Yamada, & Kawamoto, 2019). It is estimated that the informal 9 10 sector has enabled Bangkok’s city administration to avoid approximately 15.8 million USD per 11 12 year in waste management costs, which is even higher than the city’s spending on formal 13 14 waste collection (United Nations ESCAP, 2019). The United Nations Economic and Social 15 16 17 Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) recommends the recognition of the informal 18 19 sector by forming informal-formalFor linksPeer (United NationsReview ESCAP, 2019). Although the Asia Pacific 20 21 region relies heavily on the informal sector for recovery of recyclates, members of the sector are 22 23 exposed to tremendous health and socioeconomical threats while having very little access to 24 25 safety equipment and social services (United Nations ESCAP, 2020). 26 27 28 Coastal and island communities in Southeast Asia are particularly affected by plastic pollution. 29 30 The marine ecosystems serve as a significant resource for coastal and island communities, 31 32 providing for their food, livelihoods and income (Phelan, Ross, & Setiant, 2020). In a 2011 33 34 research, it is conservatively estimated that there is a 1-5% decline in marine ecosystem service 35 36 delivery as a result of marine plastics (Beaumonta, et al., 2019). As income from fisheries, 37 38 aquaculture, and tourism deteriorates due to plastic pollution, alternate livelihoods with waste 39 40 management may present new opportunities for affected coastal and island communities. The 41 42 Plastic Credit system proposed for Southeast Asia involves and relies on the informal sector 43 44 45 and affected and coastal communities for the collection and recovery of plastic debris and as a 46 47 form of solid waste management. These groups are recognized as the primary PCPW recovery 48 49 agents and should be given a fair wage for their labour. With the upsurge of conversion to 50 51 recycled plastics as publicized in corporate circularity commitments, the demand for recyclates 52 53 is most likely to increase, which could give rise to stability to the recycling industry. With a more 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Waste Management Research Page 16 of 27
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 stable recycling industry, it could be possible that a minimum reward per unit of recyclates 5 6 recovered be established to ensure a fair wage in Plastic Credit markets for recovery agents. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 For Peer Review 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Figure 3 A simplified depiction of the proposed Plastic Credit system for Southeast Asia 33 involving local communities as recovery agents 34 35 36 37 Benefits of the Plastic Credit system 38 39 The objective of the Plastic Credit system is to create a standardized ledger for PCPW recovery 40 41 for the goal of “closing the loop” – establishment of true circularity for plastics. Aside from 42 43 environmental benefits, there could be significant socio-economic benefits in neutralizing plastic 44 45 footprint through Plastic Credits. 46 47 48 Traceability to enable closed-loop recycling 49 50 Closed-loop recycling consists of recycling PCPW into products of similar usage and properties 51 52 as the original recyclate (Eriksen, Christiansen, Daugaard, & Astrup, 2019). One of the major 53 54 55 hurdles being impurities (Eriksen, Christiansen, Daugaard, & Astrup, 2019), as demonstrated by 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 17 of 27 Waste Management Research
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 the national regulations on food packaging in Thailand. As of 2019, notification No. 295/2548 5 6 (2005) of the Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stipulates the prohibition of the use of 7 8 recycled plastic for food contact packaging hence food-grade packaging made from recycled 9 10 packaging is not allowed in Thailand (Thesasilpa, 2019). The prohibition is in place primarily due 11 12 to concerns over chemical and organic contamination of the recyclate, especially those 13 14 contaminated by fertilizers and other toxic substances (Thesasilpa, 2019). With a regulated 15 16 17 ledger that states the specifics of the recovery condition, ensuring the source of the recyclate 18 19 stream (i.e.: PET beverageFor bottles), Peer closed-loop Review recycling (i.e.: bottle-to-bottle) could be 20 21 rendered reliable. 22 23 24 The following table (Table 1) illustrates some of the projected outcomes of implementing the 25 26 Plastic Credit system, as well as the consequent benefits for other parties involved in the plastic 27 28 value chain. 29 30 Table 1: Projected outcomes of Plastic Credit system and benefits for the recycling industry, manufacturing industry 31 32 and local communities 33 34 35 Projected outcome from Benefits for the Benefits for the Benefits for local 36 37 Plastic Credit system recycling manufacturing industry communities 38 39 industry 40 41 Creating a standardized Higher Increased interest in Higher per unit 42 ledger for each recyclable recyclability of adopting recyclable remuneration of 43 44 polymer, aligned by recyclate stream material recovered plastics due 45 46 recyclability (better quality) to better quality 47 48 Employment of Corporate endorsement Human rights-based 49 50 local/affected communities for environmental and employment for 51 52 for year-round work social impact in fishing/coastal 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Waste Management Research Page 18 of 27
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 offsetting/insetting partial communities with fair 5 6 or total plastic footprint wages 7 8 Increased and more More stable and Increased feasibility of Stability in income for 9 10 systematic more reliable sustainability goals for the local communities 11 12 recovery/collection recyclate stream higher recycled material employed 13 activities by the informal content 14 15 sector 16 17 Increased interest for local Cleaner local 18 19 groups to conduct regular For Peer Review landscapes, seascapes, 20 21 volunteer-based beach and tourism attractions 22 23 clean-ups 24 25 Sorting at point of recovery Traceability for closed-loop recycling Relatively higher per 26 27 volume 28 29 30 31 32 Links to and applications in other schemes and standards 33 34 35 Plastic Accounting 36 37 At the point of submission of this paper, The Guidelines for Leadership in Corporate Plastic 38 39 Accounting is being developed by the 3R Initiative, a cross-sectoral alliance of manufacturing 40 41 leaders and environmental consultancies, and multiple environmental consultancies (3R 42 43 Initiative, EA, South Pole, & Quantis, 2020). The prerequisites and the principles of plastic 44 45 credits are outlined in detail from the corporate point-of-view. Along with the conditions for 46 47 Plastic Credits discussed in this paper, a universal standard of plastic accounting using a credit 48 49 system could be applied to nearly the entire plastic value chain. Claims made by businesses 50 51 regarding their plastic footprint, offsetting and neutrality could be certified by third party 52 53 54 certification entities using this combination of standards. 55 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 19 of 27 Waste Management Research
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 Extended Producer Responsibility schemes 5 6 Incentives for PCPW collection could be driven by mandatory deposit refund schemes where 7 8 waste management is developed and effective, and by Plastic Credits where there is leakage, 9 10 poor collection rates and/or accumulation of plastics in nature. The two systems should be 11 12 incorporated into future EPR schemes of Southeast Asia, while transactions of the credits are 13 14 15 transparent within the EPR scheme. Southeast Asia has no voluntary and legally mandated 16 17 national EPR schemes for plastics as of 2020 (WWF, 2019). Since 2019, the government, 18 19 academia and civil societyFor of Singapore Peer have been Review exploring the implementation of EPR 20 21 schemes for plastics in Singapore (Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, 2020; Bea 22 23 & Low, 2019) and more recently as announced in September 2020 in Malaysia (Malaysian 24 25 Medical Council, 2020). While recovery rates of the materials of interest are an important factor 26 27 in EPR schemes (Peng, Tu, Elahi, & Wei, 2018), in many low and middle-income countries, 28 29 effective collection systems for PCPW continue to be a major hurdle in establishing all 30 31 prerequisites of EPR regulations (WWF Network, 2019). Through the establishment of a Plastic 32 33 34 Credit system, EPR schemes can be empowered by a standardized way of incentivizing and 35 36 compensating the collection of PCPW by polymer type. 37 38 39 ISO standards for circular economy 40 41 Another opportunity for synergy prior to the launch of mandatory EPR schemes would be to 42 43 have the Plastic Credit system merge with voluntary technical standards. The most recently 44 45 released International Organization for Standardization guideline for recovery and recycling of 46 47 plastic waste is ISO 15270:2008 at the point of submission of this paper. By the term “recovery”, 48 49 ISO standards refer to the recovery of a material through processes, such as mechanical 50 51 recycling, that render it usable again. It contains no guidance on how PCPW is collected or 52 53 recovered from nature (International Organization for Standardization, 2008). A more recent 54 55 56 publication, ISO standard ISO/TR 23891:2020 outlines the necessity of standards for recycling 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Waste Management Research Page 20 of 27
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 and recovery and touches on the techniques for material recovery (International Organization 5 6 for Standardization, 2020). The ISO TC/323 Circular Economy certification standard is under 7 8 development by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO, 2020) and would be an 9 10 excellent set of standards for the Plastic Credit system to be jointly integrated with. Businesses 11 12 that wish to escalate their recognition in contributing to a circular economy should have a plastic 13 14 neutral goal in order to be rightfully deemed to facilitate circular economies. 15 16 17 Human rights-based approach 18 19 Linkage of the Plastic CreditFor system Peer to a human Review rights-based approach is also paramount, as 20 21 22 the collection of PCPW in Southeast Asia is often done by informal waste pickers, while coastal 23 24 communities recover plastic marine litter (UNEP SEA circular, COBSEA, SEI, 2019). There are 25 26 already numerous known social, economic and health-related adverse effects of marine litter on 27 28 marginalized groups (UNEP SEA circular, COBSEA, SEI, 2019). In the case of RSPO credits, 29 30 the social aspects of sustainable palm oil production have been well-addressed. Therefore, the 31 32 Plastic Credit standards must safeguard collection personnel from health, gender equality and 33 34 human rights issues to minimize further marginalization of the communities. 35 36 37 Conclusion 38 39 40 41 42 The world came together through the Kyoto Protocol to tackle the problem of climate crises and 43 44 adopted the carbon credit system. Likewise through the Bangkok Declaration in 2019, 45 46 Southeast Asia now shows collaborative effort to solve the problem of plastic marine litter – be it 47 48 49 in intergovernmental regional plans for marine litter or in business strategies for plastic reduction 50 51 or even neutrality (UNEP SEA circular, 2019). A solution that combines incentives for 52 53 businesses to act on plastics with governmental responsibility to remove marine debris is a 54 55 standardized Plastic Credit ledger system that focuses on the recovery of legacy plastics. The 56 57 58 59 60 http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/wmr Page 21 of 27 Waste Management Research
Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 system can adopt the fundamental principles of carbon and sustainable palm oil credits 5 6 wherever applicable and is part of a step-wise approach to encourage businesses to undergo a 7 8 paradigm shift by managing their plastic value chains and adopting principles of EPR. Aside 9 10 from the positive environmental impact by removing marine debris from seascapes, Plastic 11 12 Credits also offer social and economic benefits for the Southeast Asian nations, especially in the 13 14 coastal areas where tourism and fishing once flourished. The Plastic Credit system needs to be 15 16 17 introduced under the consideration of initiatives and policies aiming to reduce plastic production, 18 19 consumption and accumulationFor in oceans,Peer such Reviewas prospective EPR schemes, plastic value 20 21 chain management guidelines, and voluntary technical standards. Ultimately, governments and 22 23 plastic value chain managers should be reminded that the recovery of plastic pollution alone is 24 25 not the ideal way to solve the problem. Through a composite effort inclusive of the 26 27 transformation of plastic value chains, legislative enforcement, and best practice recognition, 28 29 Southeast Asia can break free from its plastic shackles. 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 22 of 27
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Marine Debris Mitigation – Plastic Neutrality through a Credit System in Southeast Asia 1 [Author] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 For Peer Review 20 21 22 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