Breaking the Plastic Habit in ASEAN Project Phase II: Leveraging Behavioural Insights to Tackle Plastic Waste in ASEAN

In her keynote speech, Ms. Rosa Vivien Ratnawati, Director-General of Solid Waste, Hazardous Waste, and Hazardous Substances Management at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia, stressed the importance of civil society ensuring sustainable waste management. She remarked, "Civil society movements promoting initiatives such as behavioural insights can support government efforts to manage waste sustainably. I hope the success of this project can be scaled up and implemented in other regions of Indonesia."

Phase II builds on the successful behavioural interventions introduced in Phase I, which focused on reducing single-use plastic consumption and adequate waste management. By leveraging behavioural insights, the project aims to complement existing policies, such as bans and taxes, with long-term solutions to plastic waste. A key outcome of Phase II will be the development of case studies and practical tools to guide policymakers, businesses, and civil society in adopting behaviour-centred strategies.

Mr Reo Kawamura, Director of the Regional Knowledge Centre, emphasised the importance of behavioural approaches in addressing the root causes of plastic consumption. He noted, "The launch of Phase II marks a significant step forward in our fight against plastic pollution in the ASEAN region. Through the use of behavioural insights, we aim to complement traditional policy measures and tackle the root causes of plastic consumption. Our pilot projects in Phase I have shown the potential of these interventions, and I look forward to seeing how Phase II builds on this progress."

In conjunction with the launch event, a two-day capacity-building workshop held on 16-17 October 2024 to prepare partner organisations to implement their projects starting in January 2025. Three of the six implementing partners, including the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (Indonesia), the University of the Philippines Diliman (Philippines), and Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), are implementing partners in Phase I and will now expand their work in Phase II. Three new implementing partners, the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia, Econox (Laos), and Nopa Design (Viet Nam), have newly joined the Phase II of the project.

During the project presentation session, each implementing partner introduced their upcoming projects, detailing their objectives and the local context. As for the panel discussions, four key experts in the field of behavioral change were invited to share their experience and insights. Rare Center for Behavior & the Environment shared its experience in using behaviour change to address food waste, as well as a focus on legal changes and market strategies.

GIZ Indonesia and ASEAN's 3RproMar project laid out their behavioral change activities which include developing behavioral change communication strategies, piloting reuse and refill products, and conducting training on designing and implementing behavioral change campaigns. ASEAN Working Group on Environmental Education (AWGEE) on the other hand, emphasized the importance of educating students about environmental issues and developing their skills to address current and future environmental challenges. The representative of AWGEE explained that this requires a holistic approach that includes practical learning experiences, curriculum integration, and supportive policies.

Given the relative scarcity of "nudge" experience in reducing single-use-plastics in the ASEAN region, the event underscored the importance of sharing the pilot projects’ results with the winder stakeholders to the benefit of collective learning and possible scaling up.