As the second session of the fifth UNEA (UNEA-5.2) resumes on February 28 to March 2 in Kenya, Nairobi on hybrid format, members of the EcoWaste Coalition gathered in Quezon City, Philippines to remind government delegates of the “make or break” opportunity to negotiate for a legally binding agreement to prevent and remedy plastic pollution and its toxic impacts.

Enforce ban on bottles containing BPA. Consumers Association of Penang in Malaysia calls on the authorities to strictly enforce the Food Regulations 1985 and the Trade Description Act 1972. This followed after the release of a study carried out by Consumer Association of Penang, in collaboration with the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) in which BPA was detected in all 9 Malaysian samples of polycarbonate bottles tested.

Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) initiated an online petition to ask eCommerce companies to take part in reducing plastic consumption in Indonesia. According to ICEL, there is a 62% increase in transactions in the eCommerce sector from 2020 to 2021, along with this increase, there has been no significant change in the way eCpmmerce companies deal with the plastic waste.

Aeshnina Azzahra Aqilani, a 14 year old climate activist from Indonesia and daughter of ECOTON founders, Daru Setyorini and Prigi Arisandi, calls on the global leaders to pass a legally binding plastic treaty. Nina is an advocate for solving waste problems in her home region in Gresik Regency, East Java, Indonesia and other Indonesian provinces. 

War on plastic – global push to end plastic poisoning the circular economy. Yuyun Ismawati co-founder of Nexus3 Foundation shared that “It is shocking to find that every single plastic product from China, Indonesia and Russia tested positive for banned flame retardants. There is no mechanism to warn people about the risks from being exposed to these chemicals. The results are clear — plastics are poisoning the circular economy.” 

Greeners Action calls on the public to contribute to taking action in curbing the effects of microplastics. Microplastics can be found everywhere, in land, ocean, and even at the atmosphere. The environmental organization underscores the importance of reducing the use of plastic products. They also encourage the public to improve their individual practices and use sustainable and environment friendly alternatives.

ARNIKA and EARTH investigated the industrial hot spots in Khok Sa-ad sub district, Kalasin province. The area is infamous for Thailand’s largest e-waste dump, where scrap from all over the world was formerly collected. The toxic pollution is even enhanced by local dubious dismantling and recycling sites affecting its wider vicinity, including poor local communities.
 

After much praised waste export ban, Australia under fire for shipping plastic trash as 'fuel'. Australia will allow plastic trash to be shipped overseas and burned as fuel under a law introduced last year that banned the export of some plastic waste, the environment minister's office said, prompting accusations from critics of hypocrisy. But environmentalists in Southeast Asia said Australia's rebranding of plastic waste as a fuel raised fears that rich countries would agree to a deal to continue exporting pollution to the developing world.

Action for Carcinogen-free Korea developed 2022 Women Environmental Health Agenda proposal as the presidential and local elections are ahead in Korea. The proposed agenda reflects a gender perspective for safe chemical policies and waste management in their country.

Why Hong Kong’s landfill problem won’t be solved by waste-to-energy plants. The development of more waste-to-energy facilities would inevitably destroy more resources. The sustainable approach would be to prevent more waste from being generated at source. To achieve this, the bureau should put much more emphasis on waste avoidance, reuse, recycling, and public education.

Ban Toxics Philippines spearheaded the validation workshop of the "Mainstreaming of the Children's Rights in Environmental Law," with youth leaders of the Municipality of Tboli, South Cotabato, Philippines. The workshop was to check the efficacy and to validate the effectiveness of a toolkit developed by the NGO if used by the academe and the children/youth organizations themselves.

Climate Change Institute (CCI) (formerly known as the Research Center for Rural Development (RCRD), An Giang University an IPEN PO based in Vietnam is promoting the seasonal rice variety as the main food crop in the Mekong Delta. This traditional rice variety is flowering in a short-day length and can be cultivated for one crop per year. It can withstand extreme weather conditions such as flood, drought, alum, salinity with less or without agrochemical use.

 

Join us on March 2, Wednesday at 7AM UK / 3PM Manila-Perth-Kuala Lumpur, as we take a closer look at Australia’s plans to export RDF to Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. While Australia's ‘world first’ waste export ban earned international praise, closer scrutiny reveals that Australia plans to continue exporting its waste in a new “reprocessed” format: Refuse Derived Fuels (RDF) which are bales or pellets of mixed waste containing significant quantities of non-recyclable plastic, to be burned in cement kilns or other industrial furnaces, both in Australia and overseas. Please register at https://bit.ly/PlasticFuels2022 (make sure to save your unique link).

Like and share IPEN SEA Facebook page and visit IPEN SEA Hub Page. 
We are also posting on-going initiatives, related campaigns, webinar invitations and other important updates there so please visit our page.