Business leaders, tech developers and scientists called for actors across the plastics value chain to capitalise on frontier technologies such as AI and Blockchain to eliminate plastic waste, during a panel discussion moderated by Shereen Zorba, Head of the UN Science Policy Business Forum (UNSPBF).
The panel discussion took place on 25 November during the virtual SEA of Solutions 2020 (SOS2020) event on the theme Wasting less plastic and keeping it out of the ocean – Has the needle moved?
SEA of Solutions is an annual partnership event convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), through the SEA circular project supported by the Government of Sweden, seeking to identify and develop market-transforming solutions to plastic pollution in ASEAN countries.
The panel session discussed the opportunities for new technologies and policy incentives to help curb plastic pollution in ASEAN countries by exploring natural substitutes, truly biodegradable plastics and revolutionary waste sorting and recycling processes.
A UNEP report published earlier this year identified that only 45% of companies surveyed in five ASEAN countries are focusing on recycling and reuse actions currently. But with most of the businesses surveyed open to adopting such measures in the next 12 to 18 months, the timing of SOS2020 and the parallel session is important for coordinating urgent action across industry and governments.
Panel members included; Anne Bowser, Consultant, UNEP, Haischel Dabian, CTO, Kryha, Seah Kian Hoe, Managing Director, Heng Hiap Industries, Sankar Villupuram, Associate Director, ARUP.
Speaker summaries
Anne Bowser introduced the Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) initiative’s role in creating a “one-stop shop” for high quality curated information relating to plastic litter which other stakeholders and platforms can use. GPML has worked with UNSPBF and IBM to create a landmark digital concept platform on marine litter which uses an AI generated digital human assistant called ‘Sam’ to share information on marine plastic issues and interventions. Anne showed a short video demonstrating Sam’s functionality during the session.
As a champion of citizen science, Ms Bowser spoke of the movement recent acceleration in growth, in part thanks to technological developments in environmental data collection and digital communication.
“Citizen science offers a unique opportunity to collect data very quickly and efficiently on marine litter and an important opportunity for bringing people together and for education and outreach purposes,” said Ms Bowser.
Haischel Dabian outlined the important role blockchain technology will play in creating a “digital public infrastructure” for plastic waste which is more accountable and collaborative. While blockchain technology offers enhanced traceability of plastics, vital for a closed-loop system for plastic recycling. Mr Dabian acknowledged the technology needs to mature further, particularly in how data is validated, before blockchain becomes widely accepted amongst policy makers, businesses and consumers.
Seah Kian Hoe provided his perspective from the recycling industry in Malaysia. He pointed to the need for greater regulation in developing country recycling standards, something his company has created internally and which have now become “de-facto” standards for some 28,000 recycling entities in Malaysia. Mr Kian Hoe called for all actors to help make plastic a commercially valuable material to re-use and recycle.
Sankar Villupuram made the case for “frugal innovation” to use minimal materials and resources in satisfying the needs of a growing global population. To achieve this, he advocates for stronger linkages between the physical and digital world’s in which people now live and interact. Mr Villupuram explained how policy makers in some ASEAN countries are recognising the importance of implementing “data-based policy” over traditional forms of “rule-based” policy in developing solutions to complex environmental challenges such as marine plastic litter.
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