Canadian chemicals company Nova Chemicals has announced a three-year €1.5m commitment to fight the growing problem of marine plastic litter in the South East Asian country of Indonesia.
The investment supports Project Stop Ocean Plastics (STOP), a new global initiative which targets plastic pollution in countries with a high leakage of plastics into oceans.
The project was co-created in 2017 by Nova's sister company and polyolefins manufacturer Borealis AG and SYSTEMIQ, a supplier of sustainable solutions for land-use, material and energy systems.
Borealis announced in April that the first round of Project STOP would be carried out in Muncar, a coastal fishing community located in Banyuwangi, Indonesia.
The project targets zero leakage of waste into the environment by making waste collection services available to all households and businesses. It also invests in increasing the number of pick-up points, sorting facilities and staff for waste collection.
Nova Chemicals' investment will support the first city partnership in Muncar, which has minimal waste services in place, forcing citizens to dump their waste directly into the environment.
Southeast Asia has been identified as a major source of marine plastic debris, as economic development and plastics consumption have outpaced the expansion of waste management systems in the region. Project STOP has chosen Indonesia as a primary focus region.
“We understand the growing concern about marine plastic pollution and agree we must take meaningful action to address this challenge. Nova Chemicals' investment demonstrates our commitment to shaping a world that is even better tomorrow than it is today,” said John Thayer, senior vice president, polyethylene business at Nova Chemicals.