It is undeniable that plastic waste contributes to the earth’s ecological devastation and issues in human health. In 2017, industrial ecologist, Roland Geyer, led a study on the ‘Production, use and fate of all plastics ever made’ and estimated that there are more than 8.3 billion metric tons (Mt) of plastics that have been produced since the 1950s.

As two of the most successful regional blocs in the world, the European Union (EU) and ASEAN have been cooperating across a wide range of sectors since formalising dialogue relations more than 40 years ago.While trade and investment were the traditional pillars of this relationship, the two bodies have been working together in fields such as science, technology and energy as far back as 1980 when a joint committee established a programme of cooperation.

With Southeast Asia awash in rubbish, from plastic-choked whales to trash-clogged canals, its leaders are planning to push through a deal to fight maritime debris at a regional meeting this weekend. Just five Asian countries – China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand – dump more than half of the eight million tonnes of plastic waste that end up in oceans every year, according to a 2017 Ocean Conservancy report.The region has come under fire for not doing enough to tack

Protestors in Bangkok on Thursday dumped plastic waste in front of a government building and called on Southeast Asian leaders to ban imports of trash from developed countries.The protest comes ahead of a weekend meeting of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with many countries struggling to deal with the flood of plastic waste unleashed by China's decision last year to stop importing recyclables from abroad.Countries in ASEAN now receive more than a quarter of

Southeast Asian nations no longer want your trash. Last week, Malaysia announced it was sending 3,300 tons of scrap plastics including CDs, insulated electric cables and milk jugs back to countries ranging from Australia to Bangladesh, Canada, China, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

Western countries must increasingly deal with hard to dispose of plastics because China and many Southeast Asian countries no longer want them.Incinerators or landfills are two quick fixes since Beijing shut the door in January 2018 to some types of foreign refuse, but specialists say longer term solutions should involve better recycling or better yet, less junk to start with.So far, the global recycling network has not managed to adapt as countries in Asia have given up trying to replace Chi

Southeast Asia stands to gain the most from the addition of plastic waste to the Basel Convention earlier this month.

From grubby packaging engulfing small Southeast Asian communities to waste piling up in plants from the United States (US) to Australia, China's ban on accepting the world's used plastic has plunged global recycling into turmoil.For many years, China received the bulk of scrap plastic from around the world, processing much of it into a higher quality material that could be used by manufacturers.But at the start of 2018, it closed its doors to almost all foreign plastic waste, as wel

An audit in the Philippines has shown the country uses a "shocking" amount of single-use plastic, including nearly 60 billion sachets a year, a new report said Friday.The report, produced by the NGO GAIA, is part of an effort to collect data on plastic consumption as environmentalists push for government action to reduce plastic waste.It contains eye-popping figures: every day, almost 48 million shopping bags are used throughout the Philippines, adding up to more than 17 billion a y