81275360-Implementation of Pilot Project on 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) in the Philippines

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to Protect the Marine Environment and Coral Reefs (3RproMar) In the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, approximately 202,000 metric tons of waste (2012) are produced per day, and forecasts expect this figure to double by 2025. It is estimated that the ASEAN countries of Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar alone are responsible for about a quarter of the approximately 31.9 million tons of plastic waste that enters the environment each year worldwide and of the 4 to 12 million tons that reach the oceans. The main source of this waste is inadequate waste management in the countries. Only a small proportion of the population is connected to a regular waste collection system, and recycling and landfilling of waste is inadequate. Recycling takes place only to a limited extent but provides a livelihood for many people in the informal sector. However, occupational safety and environmental protection are not sufficiently considered. Due to the increasing environmental pollution, the issue of plastic pollution in the oceans has been receiving a lot of international attention in recent years. Countries in the region and regional organizations such as ASEAN are also aware of the problem and in June 2019 adopted the Bangkok Declaration on Combatting Marine Debris in ASEAN Region. They combined this with a declaration of intent to significantly reduce the amount of waste produced in their countries that ends up in the sea by 2025. The "ASEAN Framework of Action on Marine Debris" defines priority actions to address the causes of the rapidly increasing marine debris. The regional project "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to Protect the Marine Environment and Coral Reefs" pursues the following objective: "The conceptual framework for reducing land-based waste leakage into the sea has improved in selected ASEAN countries". The project collaborates with the ASEAN secretariat and intervenes in Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The Technical Cooperation (TC) module strengthens the capacities of government actors and the private sector and promotes regional exchange in the ASEAN area to reduce the discharge of waste into the sea. It has the following four outputs: 1. The representatives of the ASEAN working groups dealing with marine litter and plastic pollution have an enhanced understanding of approaches to reduce land-based sources of marine litter. 2. Public players have established participatory procedures for planning measures to reduce waste leakage into the sea. 3. The requirements for the establishment of private sector efforts to reduce waste leakage into the sea have improved along the value chain. 4. Implementation experiences on the reduction of waste leakage into the sea are documented for further distribution. The pilot projects to be implemented in output 4 on local level should create tangible improvements on the local level in terms of improved waste prevention and management, strengthen the organizations and individuals involved with practical learning experiences, and provide knowledge and results to the knowledge platform established in output 1 and to the ASEAN working groups, in order to support up-scaling of marine litter reduction measures.