Local governments in Myanmar have no specific regulations addressing marine environment or solid waste management. However, the city of Mandalay has conducted public campaigns and environmental education to foster the implementation of the reduce, reuse, recycle (3R) scheme. Through the Mandalay City Development Committee, the city has banned, since 2009, the production, trading, and utilisation of thin plastic bags. The committee has promoted alternative products, such as string bags and boxes and baskets made of leaves, to counteract the excessive use of plastic (Premakumara et al., 2017)
In the city of Yangon, the Clean Yangon Campaign group manages the campaign to raise awareness of plastic’s environmental impacts. Besides raising awareness of environmental degradation, the campaign focuses on fostering recycling plastic products to reduce waste. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to create Clean Yangon. This movement somehow has become a trendsetter as other movements, such as Clean Pyinmana, Clean Aunglan, and Clean Mandalay, have started to grow. Similar collective movements are expected to eventually create Clean Myanmar (Aung, 2018).
In another case, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute, and Thant Myanmar have conducted training series on plastic reduction, targeting the cities of Bagan, Mandalay, and Nay Pyi Taw, the three major tourism destinations in Myanmar. The training is to create awareness of plastic pollution, support practical solutions, and investigate challenges in plastic management to achieve sustainability. This action is rooted in the fact that Myanmar has a huge amount of wastes, exacerbated by poor waste management systems, leading to pollution of waterways and death of birds and marine species. Forty-five hotels have committed to this action (Mizzima, 2018).
Aung, M.M. (2018), NGO Takes Aim at Plastic Waste. Myanmar Times. https://www.mmtimes.com/news/ngo-takes-aim-plastic-waste.html (accessed 7 November 2019).
Mizzima (2018). Helping Myanmar Hotels Deal with Plastic Refuse. Mizzima. http://mizzima.com/article/helping-myanmar-hotels-deal-plastic-refuse (accessed 7 November 2019).
Premakumara, D.G., M. Hengesbaugh, K. Onogawa, and O.M. Hlaing (2017). Waste Management in Myanmar: Current Status, Key Challenges, and Recommendations for National and City Waste Management Strategies. https://iges.or.jp/en/publication_documents/pub/policyreport/en/5670/POLICY+REPORT__Myanmar.final_.2017.01.31rev.pdf (accessed 7 November 2019).
Local governments in Myanmar have no specific regulations addressing marine environment or solid waste management. However, the city of Mandalay has conducted public campaigns and environmental education to foster the implementation of the reduce, reuse, recycle (3R) scheme. Through the Mandalay City Development Committee, the city has banned, since 2009, the production, trading, and utilisation of thin plastic bags. The committee has promoted alternative products, such as string bags and boxes and baskets made of leaves, to counteract the excessive use of plastic (Premakumara et al., 2017)
In the city of Yangon, the Clean Yangon Campaign group manages the campaign to raise awareness of plastic’s environmental impacts. Besides raising awareness of environmental degradation, the campaign focuses on fostering recycling plastic products to reduce waste. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to create Clean Yangon. This movement somehow has become a trendsetter as other movements, such as Clean Pyinmana, Clean Aunglan, and Clean Mandalay, have started to grow. Similar collective movements are expected to eventually create Clean Myanmar (Aung, 2018).
In another case, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Myanmar Responsible Tourism Institute, and Thant Myanmar have conducted training series on plastic reduction, targeting the cities of Bagan, Mandalay, and Nay Pyi Taw, the three major tourism destinations in Myanmar. The training is to create awareness of plastic pollution, support practical solutions, and investigate challenges in plastic management to achieve sustainability. This action is rooted in the fact that Myanmar has a huge amount of wastes, exacerbated by poor waste management systems, leading to pollution of waterways and death of birds and marine species. Forty-five hotels have committed to this action (Mizzima, 2018).
Aung, M.M. (2018), NGO Takes Aim at Plastic Waste. Myanmar Times. https://www.mmtimes.com/news/ngo-takes-aim-plastic-waste.html (accessed 7 November 2019).
Mizzima (2018). Helping Myanmar Hotels Deal with Plastic Refuse. Mizzima. http://mizzima.com/article/helping-myanmar-hotels-deal-plastic-refuse (accessed 7 November 2019).
Premakumara, D.G., M. Hengesbaugh, K. Onogawa, and O.M. Hlaing (2017). Waste Management in Myanmar: Current Status, Key Challenges, and Recommendations for National and City Waste Management Strategies. https://iges.or.jp/en/publication_documents/pub/policyreport/en/5670/POLICY+REPORT__Myanmar.final_.2017.01.31rev.pdf (accessed 7 November 2019).
