Less than a century ago, most products in Asia were made mainly from natural materials, and were built to last or to biodegrade easily.

There is no denying that single-use plastic has been a lifesaver in the fight against COVID-19, especially for frontline health workers. It has also facilitated adherence to social-distancing rules, by enabling home delivery of basic goods, especially food.

A major mercury leak, tap water contamination, and “alarming” levels of haze: several pollution crises in Hanoi have sparked public fury and accusations that communist Vietnam is putting the economy ahead of the environment.Long tapped as an investors’ paradise thanks to its low-cost labour and pro-business policies, rapidly industrialising Vietnam is one of Asia’s fastest growing economies.Buoyed by exports of cheaply made goods from Nike shoes to Samsung phones and H&M T-shirts, gro

While Cambodia might be pulling out all the stops to develop its smart cities, the lack of an integrated master plan is hampering these efforts.The ASEAN Smart Cities Framework defines a smart city as one that harnesses technological, digital solutions and innovative, non-technological means to address urban challenges – continuously improving people’s lives and creating new opportunities.Envisioned in April 2018 as a platform to support the creation of technologically advanced urban areas&am

Several Southeast Asian countries, sick of being the wealthy world's rubbish dump, have in recent weeks turned back container-loads of waste from foreign shores.It comes after China last year stopped accepting the world's used plastic, having previously been the biggest market for recyclables. After Indonesia on Tuesday announced it had sent back illegally imported garbage from France and Hong Kong, here is a roundup.ChinaOn 1 January, 2018, China closed its doors to almost

More efficient waste and traffic management systems are among the best practices that ASEAN can adopt from Korea.The two areas were among the fields in which policy recommendations were proposed at the recently concluded 2019 ASEAN-Korea Youth Network Workshop which gathered 80 university students from 13 countries for 10 days of lectures, site visits, cultural exchange activities and discussions – all with the aim of building cooperation between ASEAN and Korea in developing sustainable smar