Asia

How USAID is Working with the Private Sector to Combat Ocean Plastics Pollution

Combating ocean plastic pollution is a massive challenge on a global scale. With an estimated 8 million tons of discarded plastic flowing into the ocean every year, by some estimates there will be more plastic than fish by weight in the ocean by 2050. Through USAID’s Journey to… Read More

USAID MWRP Video Updates: Misool Foundation, Indonesia

Raja Ampat, Indonesia is home to some of the richest marine biodiversity in the world. USAID grantee Misool Foundation works to protect this marine environment through the Bank Sampah-Community Waste Recycling Program, which supports waste collection and recycling services with… Read More

USAID MWRP Video Update: Sri Lanka Center for Development Facilitation

USAID grantee Sri Lanka Center for Development Facilitation (SLCDF) works to address plastic waste dumping in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. The city dumps one of the country’s highest volumes of plastic waste per capita into the marine environment, largely due to the lack of an established solid waste management system. SLCDF’s… Read More

USAID MWRP Video Update: Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation (PRRCFI)

USAID grantee Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation, Inc (PRRCFI) implemented the Sea Waste Education to Eradicate Plastic (SWEEP) program on Negros Island in the Philippines. The grant, which concluded in March 2020, contributed to PRRCFI’s participatory, data… Read More

USAID MWRP Video Update: Lanka Upcycles, Sri Lanka

This update, provided by Hendrik Konzok, Co-Founder of Lanka Upcycles, covers key successes of the Waste Less Arugam Bay program in the last six months. Read More

USAID Grantee Celebrates Successful Zero-Waste Stores in Philippines

The Sea Waste Education to Eradicate Plastic (SWEEP) model was built on one simple idea: reduce plastic waste in the Philippines by designing convenience stores that don’t use single-use plastic sachets. Implemented by the Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation… Read More

USAID Grantee Supports Plastic Recycling Successes in Negombo, Sri Lanka

For many years, Anton Joseph – a recycler based in Negombo, Sri Lanka – had just one plastic crusher machine which he used to process and sell about 12 metric tons (MT) of crushed plastics per month. Due to cumbersome bureaucratic regulations, Anton was struggling to obtain the necessary legal… Read More

USAID’s Clean Cities, Blue Ocean Program Calls for Grant Applications

Clean Cities, Blue Ocean (CCBO) is USAID’s flagship program addressing ocean plastic pollution. The five-year program (2019-2024) works across Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean–currently in the Dominican Republic, Maldives, Peru, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam–to identify, test, and scale locally-driven solutions to promote the 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle),… Read More

Municipal Waste Recycling Program (MWRP) – Sri Lanka Country Profile

Each year, eight million metric tons of plastic pour into the world’s ocean. This global crisis is exacerbated by poor waste management systems of rapidly urbanizing coastal cities in developing countries. Recent scientific research shows Sri Lanka contributes up to 640,000 metric tons of plastic waste to oceans annually, making it the world’s fifth largest polluter by total mass of mismanaged plastic debris. Read More

Municipal Waste Recycling Program (MWRP) – Philippines Country Profile

Each year, eight million metric tons of plastic pour into the world’s ocean. This global crisis has origins in poor waste management systems of rapidly urbanizing coastal cities in developing countries. The Philippines—comprised of over 7,000 islands—is the world’s third largest plastic polluter to the marine environment, contributing approximately 750,000 metric tons annually. Read More