In February 2020 the Swedish EPA announced a funding opportunity for development projects aimed at sustainable plastic use and a sound management of plastic waste in the BRIICS-countries. We have received and evaluated 118 applications and have decided to grant funding to four following projects.
Advancing a Non-Toxic Circular Economy in Russia, Indonesia and China
The International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) has been granted funding to carry out a project with the overall aim to reduce the production and use of plastics containing hazardous chemicals and protect the integrity of a non-toxic circular economy via an extended producer responsibility approach.
Some plastics products contain hazardous chemicals that, after collection and recycling, uncontrollably can end up in new plastic products. This may not only pose a threat to human health and the environment but also compromise the transition to a circular economy.
This project specifically aims to establish national baseline data for the phase out of non-circular plastics and to support policy dialogues and the use of extended producer responsibility schemes in Russia, Indonesia and China, and also to support policy dialogue about non-circular plastics at the international level.
Prevent pollution from waste in Brazil
Brazil is a large contributor to plastic waste pollution in the marine environment. Absence or lack of adequate waste infrastructure and low social awareness about the impacts of inappropriate disposal of waste are believed to be two key contributors to leakage of waste into the ocean and rivers in Brazil. In addition, Brazil is home to a great environmental and biological diversity in the world that is very fragile and susceptible to environmental threats.
International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) have been granted funds to carry out a project together with Abrelpe, Avfall Sverige and Leads university in Manaus in the Amazonas region and Ilha Grande Bay which is a national seaside protection area. The project aims to prevent plastic waste leakage, to oceans and rivers through capacity building activities. Another key component in the project includes data collection and development of visual displays allowing easy interpretation of hotspots for plastic pollution in Brazil.
Reduce microplastics load to the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea from China
Microplastics pollution in marine environment has become a problem of global concern. Evidence from international studies show that, fibers and fragments are the most common microplastics found in organisms. Microplastics fibers is widely spread in the sea water, sediment and zooplanktons in the coastal regions of Bohai and the Yellow Sea.
The Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL) has been granted funding to carry out a project with the overall objective to identify, prevent and reduce microplastics pollution from textile industries and wastewater treatment plants through pilot projects in Bohai and the Yellow sea coastal areas.
The project will help the understanding of sources and pathways for microplastics pollution, support the development of techniques for sampling and prevention of microplastic pollution and contribute to policy development at the local, national level and international level.
Development of policy framework for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in South Africa
Swedish EPA has granted World Wide Fund for Nature in South Africa (WWF-SA) funds to develop a mandatory Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework for plastic packaging in South Africa through an inclusive and transparent process together with key actors in the plastic value chain. This project is one of many interventions that will enable the transition to a circular plastic packaging economy in South Africa and is a strategic project in the Circular Plastics Economy programme at WWF South Africa. Through a systemic and coordinated approach and collaborating with a wide range of relevant stakeholders and experts (international and local), this project will build institutional and technical capacity at the national government level (Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries) to drive the development of this important policy, and ultimately its implementation. The overall impact of the project will be the increased accountability of industry actors operating across the plastic packaging value chain in South Africa, including imported packaging. This will have various secondary impacts namely, reduced use of virgin plastic, elimination of unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging, enabling a secondary resource economy, job creation and new business opportunities, as well as reduced leakage of plastic packaging in the environment. This systemic approach to EPR will contribute towards realising SDG 12 - sustainable consumption and production and SDG 14 - life below water, in the South African context.