On April 2, 2019, SCIC Chairman Wim Roels, in his capacity as CEO of Borouge Pte Ltd, co-led a delegation to visit Muncar in Indonesia together with CEO of Borouge ADP Mr Ahmed Omar Abdulla, to see and learn first-hand the latest Project STOP updates.
SCIC’s Executive Director Terence Koh joined the group as a guest of Borouge, which has been a technical and supporting partner to Project STOP since its inception in 2017.
Project STOP (Stop Ocean Plastics) is an initiative, co-founded by Borealis and SYSTEMIQ that partners with cities and governments to build effective and circular waste management systems to eliminate leakage of plastics into the environment and ocean, thereby helping to improve resource efficiency and public health.
The key project objectives are to prevent leakage of all waste into the environment, create circular waste systems to increase value generated from waste, and provide socio-economic benefits for local communities by creating new jobs in the waste management system and reducing the impacts of mismanaged waste on public health, tourism and fisheries.
The community of Muncar, a coastal area located in Banyuwangi, Indonesia, is the site of Project STOP’s first city partnership, which was launched in April 2018. Muncar was selected due to the strong leadership and environmental commitment at the state and local levels to improve hygiene, health and plastics waste levels in the fishing village.
The visit was an excellent opportunity for the delegation to engage directly with the stakeholders and hear first-hand about the latest progress-to-date updates, as well as discuss future plans with the project team on the ground.
The team met with the local village chief who said that local pollution has already been vastly reduced and the environment had improved tremendously. He expressed his gratitude for Borouge’s support for the project and also noted that Project STOP has become a model for other communities in the area.
Mr Roels said, “Seeing the project in Muncar makes me more convinced that this project is greatly needed and should be accelerated and broadened as much as possible, with as much support as we can gather from like-minded partners.”
“The progress made by Project STOP in Muncar is very encouraging, as it demonstrates that investment in the establishment of good waste management infrastructure, supported by effective policies and processes, along with active education to bring about real mindset and behavioural changes, can result in a strong and positive impact in the community and local environment,” he added.
The delegation also had the opportunity to walk around Muncar village and speak to some of the residents who had received training on proper waste segregation and who had segregation bins placed outside their homes for the proper disposal of different types of waste. They also visited the waste sorting plant to see how the collected waste is segregated before being sent to the recycling facilities or compost depending on the nature of the waste.
Project STOP has committed to expanding to two more cities in Indonesia and to prevent 100,000 tonnes of waste from entering the oceans by 2025.
Mr Koh said, “Project STOP is an excellent initiative and more support is definitely needed to drive progress, including putting greater focus on reducing and recycling waste and how this project can be replicated across all communities. I would like to encourage SCIC’s members to learn more about Project STOP and contribute to its goals.”
