Working together for Trash Free Seas

Today, there is too much waste in the world’s oceans; from agricultural and industrial run-off, to post-consumer waste that has not been managed effectively.

This waste has a detrimental effect on marine life.

This June, both the UN World Environment Day and UN World Oceans Day are focused on protecting biodiversity and the need for practical solutions to free marine environments from pollution.

In October 2019, Ocean Conservancy, in partnership with the Trash Free Seas Alliance® (TFSA), released the Plastics Policy Playbook: Strategies for a Plastic-Free Ocean. The in-depth guide describes the most impactful public and private-sector interventions to tackle marine debris.

Amcor is a member of the TSFA Board and we talked with Ocean Conservancy’s Chever Voltmer, who led development of the Playbook….

The origins of the Playbook

The Playbook builds on insights from previous TFSA reports to develop an action-led response. The organization’s Stemming the Tide (2015) report identified that 80% of the plastic leaking into the ocean was never collected as part of a formal waste management system and 60% currently enters the ocean from five focus countries in Asia—China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The TFSA’s next report, The Next Wave (2017) identified that collection in these countries is largely underfunded and a net cost activity. Coupled with a limited budget for waste management and high quantities of materials with low residual economic value, this results in a financing gap between revenues generated and costs incurred across the plastic value chain.

This finding led to questions about how to finance collection of debris, and how to design differently to drive down pollution in the future. This is how the Playbook came about.

The Principles in practice

The playbook identified five principles needed to have a positive impact on ocean plastic:

1. Combine measures across the value chain
2. Engage and include the informal sector
3. Drive consumer awareness and behavior change
4. Inspire political will
5. Improve enforcement at national and local levels

While all the principles are essential to developing an effective waste management strategy, we asked Chever which is the highest priority right now.

“Combining measures across the value chain”, she says. “We need action at the local level, we need action to set the policy for incentives and disincentives for behavior and we need action from corporates, thinking about how they make products and the products they make.”

The good news is, Chever is seeing many examples where collaborative effort is creating real and permanent change.

One example is in Japan, where beverage producers have agreed voluntarily to use only clear PET – which is much more easily recycled. There had been a previous strong trend for vibrant colored plastics for drinks, so this change has a had significant positive impact on recycling rates.

Another example is in Jakarta, Indonesia, where an engagement program has had double benefit. The city installed water stations and taxi drivers were given reusable water bottles. This not only cut the use of disposable water bottles by the drivers, but they also became ambassadors for recycling. By talking to passengers, they were spreading the word about recycling across the city every day.

Meanwhile, the TFSA is developing a new project which focuses on Principle 2: Engage and include the informal sector. It is looking at how to incentivize people in the informal sector to collect low-value plastic:

“There are people out collecting every day who walk past some debris because it is low-value. These people are economically vulnerable, and so we’re developing solutions that help them become more finically stable and give the environmental benefits of increased plastic collection, so it’s win-win” says Chever.

“As a member of the TFSA, Amcor is one of our partners in this initiative, and those partnerships, and the feedback we get from them, are essential to making programs like this work. Collaboration is key.”

Related read: UN World Oceans Day 2019: Interview with Eric DesRoberts

An opportunity for more drastic action

As with the UN’s World Oceans Day 2020 theme for world leaders to come together to create significant change, Chever believes that inspiring political will can create immediate impact.

As the world continues to respond to COVID-19, there is evidence of our ability to adapt quickly when we need to. “We can change,” Chever says. And we need leaders to recognize that and create policies that support more ambitious action.

“I’m encouraged by the fact there’s so much interest and desire to address this issue. We’ve presented to multiple governments and at meetings like the G20. So how do we pivot at this moment to understand we have to do things differently – and what’s the opportunity to do them better? Our response to COVID-19 shows we can change quickly, so let’s use this experience when we recover to build back better.”

Seizing the momentum of COVID-19 recovery

One example of taking the opportunity to build back better is the new Urban Ocean Project the TFSA is launching in June 2020
A partnership with the Global Resilient Cities Network and Circulate Initiative, the Urban Ocean Project will identify cities where tailored solutions for addressing marine debris can be created, collaborating with local government.

Planning for the project was already well under way before COVID-19 hit, but it has now dovetailed with the GRCN’s Cities for a Resilient Recovery (C2R) initiative, to capitalize on the momentum being created by recovery plans and the opportunity to make the ocean project a part of those plans.

Chever says the TFSA recognizes that local government has other priorities right now but stresses that it’s important that the issue of marine pollution doesn’t slip off the agenda.

“If you’re a mayor in a city, you have a lot of other challenges right now. So, we’ve been thinking about how we design this in a way that creates mutual benefits. We want to work with cities to progress their goals and our goals, simultaneously. We’re always chasing that elusive triple bottom line – benefits for the environment, for people and for the economy.”

The launch will announce the first cities and lay out the project’s ambition to create new urban working models to replicate globally.

Working together is the only way to succeed

The theme that runs through all the success stories, and the ambitious plans for future action Chever shares, is collaboration. The coming together of governments, NGOS, businesses and the public is what turns intention into action.

“If I could ask people to take away just one message from the Playbook, it is that nobody can solve this issue on their own. We need concerted action on the part of consumers, companies and governments, all working together,” says Chever.

“Partnerships with companies like Amcor are so important. Those who are considering this in a thoughtful and meaningful way… who are willing to have difficult conversations and dialogue to find solutions.”

And how does Chever feel about the future?

“I’m an optimist, so when I’m asked about our goal to reduce the amount of plastic waste leaking into the ocean annually by 50%, my response is shoot for the sun, so maybe we’ll hit the moon! The more ambitious we are, the more we can achieve.”

Actionable steps you can take to protect the environment

There is no shortage of actions that can be taken to keep trash and plastic out of our oceans.

We encourage retailers, brands, NGOs and government to start with the Plastics Policy Playbook – page 132 focuses on the most urgent and most feasible short-term actions to take.

To help on an individual basis, Ocean Conservancy offers a variety of opportunities to get involved and stem the tide of ocean plastic.