Bangkok, 30 October 2024: As momentum builds for the upcoming Global Plastics Treaty, one policy principle is emerging as a key strategy for enhancing waste management and advancing plastic circularity: Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR. This principle shifts the burden of end-of-life product management from solely the public sector to also the private sector, particularly producers of plastics and packaging.
Southeast Asian countries are already weaving EPR policies for plastics into their legislation, with Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Viet Nam leading the way since as early as 2019. Meanwhile, Malaysia and Thailand are gearing up to introduce EPR frameworks by around 2027 to 2028.
On 30 October 2024, ERIA’s Regional Knowledge Centre for Marine Plastic Debris hosted a session dedicated to EPR at the Forum on Mitigating Plastic Pollution from Runoff organised by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The session brought together experts and private sector representatives from Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines to share insights on the challenges of and strategies for implementing EPR. Participants explored lessons learned to help other Asia-Pacific countries in adopting EPR to combat plastic pollution.
The session kicked off with a presentation by Mr Fusanori Iwasaki, Research Fellow at ERIA, who outlined EPR as a framework and provided an overview of existing policies in ASEAN. Next, Ms Pauline Goh, Advisory Board member of Sunway Business School, shared Malaysia’s journey toward EPR, describing the groundwork being laid by the private sector.
‘In 2021, ten companies joined forces to establish the Malaysian Recycling Alliance, or MAREA,’ Ms Goh explained. ‘Since then, they have set up voluntary EPR schemes and pilot projects across different areas and demographics. But it’s challenging to get more companies on board without clear, binding regulations from the government.’
Ms Goh, who served as MAREA’s General Manager until the end of 2022, emphasised the need for a mandatory EPR to secure funding from producers and importers for waste collection, sorting, and management.
In August, Malaysia published its Circular Economy Blueprint for Solid Waste (2025-2035), in which EPR is highlighted as a key initiative for circular transformation. Ms Goh expressed hope that this blueprint would be the spark that drives Malaysia towards a mandatory EPR scheme, creating a level playing field for companies.
Echoing Ms Goh’s sentiments, Mr Dhedy Adi Nugroho, Head of Public Affairs at Coca-Cola Europacific Indonesia, underscored that EPR’s success depends on private sector buy-in, especially in Indonesia. Although Indonesia has implemented EPR regulation since 2019, progress has stalled due to low business participation.
‘I think it’s good that EPR in Indonesia follows a staged approach, that the government gives time for producers to develop a roadmap to reduce their waste before full implementation begins,’ Mr Nugroho noted. ‘However, we see that there is a lack of incentives and disincentives in the current legislation that can drive compliance.’
To boost private-sector engagement, he proposed starting EPR schemes start with larger companies before extending them to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). ‘This approach will give more time for MSMEs to learn from established companies and create EPR strategies that are logistically and economically feasible,’ he explained.
Indonesia’s EPR scheme, under Regulation of the Minister of Environment and Forestry No. 75/2019, mandates that producers submit a waste reduction roadmap. Yet, after five years, only about 100 companies have submitted their plans, and fewer than 20 have reported back their implementation progress as of 2023. This slow response highlights the need for a more balanced, carrot-and-stick system to drive EPR adoption.
In the Philippines, EPR efforts are gaining ground with over 900 programs submitted to the National Solid Waste Management Commission by producer responsibility organisations, collectives, and even MSMEs. The EPR Act has facilitated waste diversion, with approximately 25% of rigid plastics and 50% of flexible plastics recovered for reuse, recycling, or proper disposal.
Ms Melissa Cardenas, Executive Director of Environweave, highlighted that scaling up the EPR scheme brings unique hurdles, especially in waste collection across the Philippines’ 7,641 islands. ‘As an archipelagic nation, collection logistics becomes an important aspect to tackle. Currently, most of the consolidated processing of plastics happens on just one island,’ she explained.
To offset the high logistics cost, some private-sector actors optimise collection during peak times, such as the ‘fiesta’ season or events, when single-use plastic waste is abundant. Ms Cardenas pointed out that localising pre-processing of plastic waste is one promising strategy to ease the logistical load.
‘Another issue is accounting for all diversion efforts since a lot of waste management efforts are small-scale, localised, and informal,’ she noted. To address this, private sector-led partnerships with local communities, including integrating informal waste pickers in plastic credit programs, have been effective in increasing accountability, even before the national EPR policy was set in place.
The Forum on Mitigating Plastic Pollution from Runoff, organised by UNEP in Bangkok from 29 October to 1 November 2024, gathered stakeholders working on the issue of plastic pollution and waste management from across the Asia Pacific. The event served as a platform for sharing diverse approaches to combat run-off plastic pollution and promoting innovative integration of solutions into existing systems.
Research Associate
Bangkok, 30 October 2024: As momentum builds for the upcoming Global Plastics Treaty, one policy principle is emerging as a key strategy for enhancing waste management and advancing plastic circularity: Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR. This principle shifts the burden of end-of-life product management from solely the public sector to also the private sector, particularly producers of plastics and packaging.
Southeast Asian countries are already weaving EPR policies for plastics into their legislation, with Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Viet Nam leading the way since as early as 2019. Meanwhile, Malaysia and Thailand are gearing up to introduce EPR frameworks by around 2027 to 2028.
On 30 October 2024, ERIA’s Regional Knowledge Centre for Marine Plastic Debris hosted a session dedicated to EPR at the Forum on Mitigating Plastic Pollution from Runoff organised by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The session brought together experts and private sector representatives from Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines to share insights on the challenges of and strategies for implementing EPR. Participants explored lessons learned to help other Asia-Pacific countries in adopting EPR to combat plastic pollution.
The session kicked off with a presentation by Mr Fusanori Iwasaki, Research Fellow at ERIA, who outlined EPR as a framework and provided an overview of existing policies in ASEAN. Next, Ms Pauline Goh, Advisory Board member of Sunway Business School, shared Malaysia’s journey toward EPR, describing the groundwork being laid by the private sector.
‘In 2021, ten companies joined forces to establish the Malaysian Recycling Alliance, or MAREA,’ Ms Goh explained. ‘Since then, they have set up voluntary EPR schemes and pilot projects across different areas and demographics. But it’s challenging to get more companies on board without clear, binding regulations from the government.’
Ms Goh, who served as MAREA’s General Manager until the end of 2022, emphasised the need for a mandatory EPR to secure funding from producers and importers for waste collection, sorting, and management.
In August, Malaysia published its Circular Economy Blueprint for Solid Waste (2025-2035), in which EPR is highlighted as a key initiative for circular transformation. Ms Goh expressed hope that this blueprint would be the spark that drives Malaysia towards a mandatory EPR scheme, creating a level playing field for companies.
Echoing Ms Goh’s sentiments, Mr Dhedy Adi Nugroho, Head of Public Affairs at Coca-Cola Europacific Indonesia, underscored that EPR’s success depends on private sector buy-in, especially in Indonesia. Although Indonesia has implemented EPR regulation since 2019, progress has stalled due to low business participation.
‘I think it’s good that EPR in Indonesia follows a staged approach, that the government gives time for producers to develop a roadmap to reduce their waste before full implementation begins,’ Mr Nugroho noted. ‘However, we see that there is a lack of incentives and disincentives in the current legislation that can drive compliance.’
To boost private-sector engagement, he proposed starting EPR schemes start with larger companies before extending them to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). ‘This approach will give more time for MSMEs to learn from established companies and create EPR strategies that are logistically and economically feasible,’ he explained.
Indonesia’s EPR scheme, under Regulation of the Minister of Environment and Forestry No. 75/2019, mandates that producers submit a waste reduction roadmap. Yet, after five years, only about 100 companies have submitted their plans, and fewer than 20 have reported back their implementation progress as of 2023. This slow response highlights the need for a more balanced, carrot-and-stick system to drive EPR adoption.
In the Philippines, EPR efforts are gaining ground with over 900 programs submitted to the National Solid Waste Management Commission by producer responsibility organisations, collectives, and even MSMEs. The EPR Act has facilitated waste diversion, with approximately 25% of rigid plastics and 50% of flexible plastics recovered for reuse, recycling, or proper disposal.
Ms Melissa Cardenas, Executive Director of Environweave, highlighted that scaling up the EPR scheme brings unique hurdles, especially in waste collection across the Philippines’ 7,641 islands. ‘As an archipelagic nation, collection logistics becomes an important aspect to tackle. Currently, most of the consolidated processing of plastics happens on just one island,’ she explained.
To offset the high logistics cost, some private-sector actors optimise collection during peak times, such as the ‘fiesta’ season or events, when single-use plastic waste is abundant. Ms Cardenas pointed out that localising pre-processing of plastic waste is one promising strategy to ease the logistical load.
‘Another issue is accounting for all diversion efforts since a lot of waste management efforts are small-scale, localised, and informal,’ she noted. To address this, private sector-led partnerships with local communities, including integrating informal waste pickers in plastic credit programs, have been effective in increasing accountability, even before the national EPR policy was set in place.
The Forum on Mitigating Plastic Pollution from Runoff, organised by UNEP in Bangkok from 29 October to 1 November 2024, gathered stakeholders working on the issue of plastic pollution and waste management from across the Asia Pacific. The event served as a platform for sharing diverse approaches to combat run-off plastic pollution and promoting innovative integration of solutions into existing systems.
Research Associate
