A significant portion of the world’s plastic waste enters the ocean through waterways in the region, posing serious threats to marine ecosystems, human health, and livelihoods. Sixteen of the top twenty polluting rivers in the world are in Asia, and account for more than two thirds -of the global annual volume of plastics flowing into the world’s oceans.
In response to this urgent issue, UNDP and TCCF are scaling up efforts in nine Asian countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam—supported by a $15 million grant from TCCF to support UNDP’s initiatives across the region.
The three-year multi-country programme launched in India today, will help improve plastic waste management, promote recycling, reduce plastic leakage into the environment, foster country-based solutions, and facilitate regional collaboration. By adopting and disseminating best practices across the region, the programme aims to inspire policy changes and community-level actions to reduce and help to eliminate disposable plastic and improve the livelihoods of waste workers.
While expanding successful initiatives, the programme will focus on developing innovative business models for waste collection and recycling, offering technical advice on environmental best practices and tapping into the latest technology to improve collection and recycling, to reduce plastic leakage.