Test-bedding solutions for change

The Let’s Transform initiative tackles both environmental and social concerns in India by helping to build ethical supply chains and improving the lives and livelihoods of waste entrepreneurs and informal waste workers, while also diverting low value plastics from landfills and water bodies.

The JingSu project helps reduce the flow of plastic waste into the Yangtze River by collecting, sorting, and recycling the growing volume of single-use food and beverage containers, increasing the scope of what is considered recyclable.

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Scaling community-based plastic waste collection, the project aims to enhance capabilities in the region to produce high-quality recyclates and unlock value from hard-to-recycle plastic waste.

In a country where waste management is hindered by limited and unequally distributed resources, the South African Healthcare Foundation brings the public and private sectors together in a coordinated effort to divert plastic waste. The four-year programme will fund upgrades of sorting, education for the community, and the establishment of an innovation hub.

Over 90% of plastic waste in Vietnam are collected by informal waste pickers. Despite their crucial role, they often operate without any significant support. Read about the project aimed at improving their income and working conditions.

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A pilot to boost the capacity and reach of a waste cooperative in north Rio de Janeiro that increased plastic recovery and recycling rates, and also provided valuable insights for future waste management initiatives.

In the absence of more circular solutions, can plastic waste be a useful material for asphalt roads? Across Asia, universities and research institutes are paving the way for difficult-to-recycle plastics to be added to asphalt roads.

At the Center for Regenerative Design and Collaboration (CRDC Global), plastic waste is regenerated into a high-value construction material, RESIN8.

The Alliance-backed Prayaash initiative pilots solutions that tap and grow Nepal’s informal waste collection network, while creating the necessary infrastructure to divert waste away from landfills and towards recycling.

SEArcular Ocean Bound Plastic incentivised locally-run waste collection centres and waste pickers to collect flexible plastic packaging waste in Gresik, Indonesia, keeping them out of water bodies and bringing them into circularity.

The Aviral pilot programme is tackling plastic waste in India’s holiest – and most polluted – river at source, creating alternative pathways for used plastics in the cities of Haridwar and Rishikesh, and offering a waste management model that can be scaled across north India.

Our partnership with Greenback in Cuautla, Mexico, helps close the loop for film and flexible plastics by leveraging an innovative process that transforms them into pyrolytic oil, which can be used in the production of food-grade plastic packaging.

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In South Africa, informal waste pickers or “reclaimers” remain largely invisible, despite being critical contributors to waste management. Johannesburg-based African Reclaimers Organisation has been working to change this through uniting 6,000 reclaimers under a single umbrella.

In India, a new generation of eco-warriors is taking the future into its hands – starting with responsible plastic waste management. SOCEO’s educational programme has engaged over 45,000 students on the role they play in addressing plastic waste pollution in the region.

In central Bangkok’s Klongtoei district, the Recycle Market app is connecting players in the district’s recycling ecosystem. From residents through to recyclers, plastic waste is purchased and delivered on demand. Some 2,000 residents are participating in the Eco Digiclean Klongtoei pilot, where the app issues credits for deposited waste, and can be redeemed for cash.

Japan ranks among the largest producers of plastic waste in the world, and the nation’s culture of innovation is helping it solve this problem. Through our incubation programme with Plug and Play, the End Plastic Waste Innovation Platform, two of 11 winning initiatives have become part of the Alliance’s portfolio of solutions: Megloo Re-use and POOL Recycling System.

Through The Incubation Network’s programmes, small local businesses and entrepreneurs in the plastics value chain are receiving the support they need to get their ideas off the ground. Incubator initiatives include country-specific ones and region-wide programmes, and the Alliance has supported start-ups directly to develop an integrated, robust ecosystem around our projects.

Instead of serving drinks and snacks, special machines in Chinese cities are taking in plastic waste and dispensing circularity. Building on LOVERE’s model to place smart bins across several districts in the dynamic city of Shanghai, the goal is to more than double recycling rates in Chengdu and Xi’an from 15% to 35%.

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In five neighbourhoods in the Argentinian city of Olavarría, bags of unsorted waste have become a much less common sight. Instead, almost half the residents and businesses separate their waste before putting it out on designated collection days. With the success of its pilot, Delterra is now rolling out its GIRO Argentina model to 120,000 residents. Olavarría is now on its way to becoming a city with one of the highest recycling rates in Latin America.

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Recicleiros, in partnership with the Alliance, has started up 14 sorting centres as cooperatives in small to medium-sized cities in Brazil, bringing recycling to these communities for the first time. The project is creating new jobs and connecting various players along the value chain, laying the pathway for an inclusive, high-impact, and economically viable system.

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Following a successful six-month collaboration in 2022, Taka Taka and the Alliance are now embarking on a more ambitious undertaking: to put into place a sustainable recycling solution for flexible plastics. In salvaging flexible plastic waste and returning it to the production cycle, the material can be diverted away from the Dandora landfill – one of Africa’s largest dumpsites.

Through ParikraM, the Alliance is helping India leverage innovative technology to advance its recycling efforts, with tech-enabled sorting facilities and a digital platform that traces waste across the value chain.

Piloting an operating model to incentivise collection and create value from hard-to-recycle plastic waste for local shops and households, where hard-to-recycle plastic waste is collected and exchanged for groceries.

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One of the most ambitious waste management projects is underway in Indonesia. The aspiration is to bring together the municipal and national governments, expertise and funds from the private sector, and the participation of local communities in a coordinated push to transform the waste management landscape.

Firstar Fiber (Firstar) is a leading provider of recycling services across several Midwestern states, processing and marketing close to 120,000 tons per year of a wide variety of materials, including hard-to-recycle plastics like bags and films. It has collected difficult-to-recycle plastic waste from participating households (e.g. candy wrappers, chip packets, juice pouches) since 2018 with the Hefty Renew™ program.

Abidjan, Ivory Coast, is home to 4.5 million people that generate around 1.25 million tons of waste a year. Our project, Circulaire Abidjan or Circular Abidjan, aims to make collecting that waste accessible, while creating value for the community.

Ideas come from anywhere in the world. That’s why we partnered with Plug and Play Tech Center in 2019 to develop the End Plastic Waste Innovation Platform—to foster startups from across the plastic value chain, and transform plastic waste management around the world. In February 2020, we kickstarted the first Selection Day with 10 finalists in our inaugural Silicon Valley hub.

CRDC aims to end plastic waste through regenerative design. With our support, CRDC turns hard-to-recycle plastic into a concrete additive called RESIN8, to reclaim the value of plastic waste.

Basisa Bazaruto, which means Clean Bazaruto, is our project in partnership with African Parks. Nestled on Mozambique’s southern coastline, the Bazaruto Archipelago National Park is home to over 2,000 marine species, including the last viable population of dugongs in the Western Indian Ocean.

The Jembrana regency—where hilly jungles full of life meet beautiful beaches on Bali’s northwest coast—is often touted as a hidden gem. The Ijo Gading River that runs through the regency is the island’s largest ocean plastic contributor, accounting for 12% of Bali’s plastic waste leakage. On its banks are the Jembrana and Negara subdistricts, home of our first Indonesian programme.

Planks of Promise aims to help scale the collection and recycling of plastic waste from around Manila—including hard-to-recycle plastics like sachets and films—supporting our partner, The Plastic Flamingo.

Today, only about 10% of plastic is recycled. Digital watermarks—imperceptible postage stamp-sized codes printed on plastic packaging—can help bridge this gap by carrying information about the packaging material. As plastic waste enters a recycling centre, high-resolution cameras installed at sorting units can easily detect and decode this information and thereby sort the plastic waste more accurately.