Asia

Clean Cities, Blue Ocean – Indonesia Fact Sheet

Indonesia is the largest archipelagic country in the world and the fourth most populous, with over 270 million people. The country has experienced rapid population growth across many of its inhabited islands, particularly in its urban centers—of which over half are located in coastal areas. By 2025, 68 percent of… Read More

Clean Cities, Blue Ocean Vietnam Fact Sheet

Vietnam has experienced rapid urbanization, especially in the last decade, with urban populations expected to surpass those in rural areas by 2050. Despite relatively high waste collection rates in urban centers, over one quarter of urban residents live in low-income and densely populated areas where collection can be challenging to… Read More

Clean Cities, Blue Ocean Sri Lanka Fact Sheet

As a densely populated island nation of 21 million (2018), Sri Lanka faces unique challenges in managing its solid waste. Waste management systems in the country have struggled to keep pace as urban populations have grown and system funding, organization, while local government resources have remained static. Across the country,… Read More

Systems Thinking Offers a Locally Led Path to More Resilient Cities

Growing cities create exciting opportunities for development and economic expansion. But, as a city rapidly grows in population and size, its infrastructure and services must keep up to meet residents’ needs. Traditional urban planning approaches may exclude certain groups, leaving their priorities ignored. Furthermore, cities are facing increasing climate-related threats… Read More

Blended Finance: A Blueprint to Support a Circular Economy in Indonesia

Like many rapidly urbanizing countries across Asia, Indonesia is faced with the challenge of reducing and recycling growing volumes of waste without the recycling infrastructure it requires. Increasing that challenge is the geographic reality of collecting waste across an archipelago of 17,000 islands.  In October 2022, the U.S. Agency for… Read More

United States Announces Partnership to Reduce Ocean Plastic Pollution in Indonesia

Today, the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program, joined Circulate Capital, an impact-focused investment management firm, and Prevented Ocean Plastic Southeast Asia (POPSEA), a plastic recycling company that is developing sorting and collection infrastructure in underserved communities across Indonesia, in announcing… Read More

U.S., CORA Launch Center to Fight Ocean Plastic Pollution in Parañaque City

On July 31, the United States government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Clean Cities, Blue Ocean (CCBO) program grantee Communities Organized for Resource Allocation (CORA) Inc. launched a plastic buying and exchange center to address ocean plastic pollution in Parañaque City. The Eco-Ikot Center serves as… Read More

USAID and Partners Award Grant to Woman Waste Collector

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Clean Cities, Blue Ocean (CCBO) program and its Women in Waste’s Economic Empowerment Activity, awarded its first business expansion grant to help a woman waste collector start her own door-to-door waste collection business. In partnership with Coca-Cola Foundation Philippines, the Quezon… Read More