TACKLING THE GLOBAL MARINE PLASTICS DEBRIS CRISIS: AN ANALYTICAL OVERVIEW OF SOUTHEAST ASIA �S POLICY MEASURES

Abstract

Currently, it is estimated that about 8 million tons of plastic waste ends up in the oceans every year and the region of Southeast Asia contributes to more than half of this waste. The five top contributors to marine plastic pollution (MPP) are China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. Thus, this paper analyses the policy measures that emanates from these 5 countries.

From the research done in this paper, it is evident that there is a lack of specific law or regulation related to MPP. While countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are showing more concern over reducing plastic waste, other countries like China and the Philippines have a long way to catch up. Moreover, the data on the volume of plastic waste entering the ocean from these 5 countries seems inadequate. These baseline data are critical to governments to make policy decisions. Though there are several research and data available on plastic pollution, they differ widely across countries and there are still little-known effects of microplastics.

This paper further goes on to recommend 5 policies to reduce and mitigate MPP: 1) Improve waste management system 2) Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on plastic products 3) Research & Development 4) Behavioural Intervention and 5) Ban on Single-use plastic.