Plastic Atlas Asia Edition

Facts and figures about the world of synthetic polymers

A world without plastic?

The Plastic Atlas Asia Edition has the hard facts, data and figures to prove that the story of plastic that industry is telling us is a myth. We need urgent and drastic reductions in plastic production and consumption and regulation at the local, national, regional and global level that tackle plastic pollution at the source.

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Publications

Plastic Atlas Japan Special Edition (6 pages in English)

Topics include:
Japan’s Plastic Waste Management – Challenges and Potential Solutions
Does Japan Have the Answer? – Establishing a Recycling System and Going Beyond
Target Zero – Local Action and Zero Plastic Waste Declaration in Japan

Plastic Atlas Japan Special Edition: A Closer Look at Japan's Plastic Waste Management

Article

As the world’s third largest economy, Japan is Asia’s biggest packaging waste producer. Due to its comprehensive waste management system, Japan ranks high in the plastic management index, but plastic reduction and reuse remain a challenge. Places like Kamikatsu, working towards a zero waste economy, show the way.

By Chermaine Lee

Japan's Kamikatsu waste collection centre

Inside one of Asia’s most successful zero-waste communities

Plastic Atlas

Residents of Kamikatsu, a small town in Japan, readily sort out their refuse in a long-term community programme. Can this success be replicated in other parts of Asia?

By Chermaine Lee

Ahsim Kumar Mukhopadhyay - Preparing for Recycling

Is recycling really the answer to the plastic deluge?

Plastic Atlas

While the call for consumers to recycle plastic waste is loudly and widely proclaimed by governments and producers, it is only part of the solution to a crisis caused by the proliferation of plastic materials and their ability to endure. What else needs to be done?

By Chermaine Lee

Will we have a plastic-free future in Asia?

Plastic Atlas

This article series draws on the interviews with advocates and practitioners on plastic issues in Asia, mapping out challenges and solutions towards a plastic-free future.

By Jed Alegado

"Mabini is a famous dive destination in the Philippines, but its tourism-dependent population has suffered heavily due to the lockdown that prevented even locals from engaging in water activities. When the lockdown eased, I went beneath the waves again and for the first time encountered a facemask on a bed of seagrass."

Why the pandemic is fuelling Asia's plastic crisis

Plastic Atlas

As countries around the world scramble to contain the deadly coronavirus, detritus from disposable plastic is snowballing in Asia. Experts explain how the pandemic is exacerbating the plastic waste deluge, and what consumers and governments can do to address the situation.

By Chermaine Lee

Contributions from Plastic Atlas

Distribution of Global Plastic Production

History: A Plastic Pandora’s Box

Plastic packaging waste in tonnes per year

Throwaway Culture: A World Wallowing in Waste

Climate Change: A Problem from Beginning to End

Health: Harmful and Persistent

Usage: From a Blessing to a Curse

Gender: Unequal Exposure

All infographics from the Plastic Atlas

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The solutions to the plastic and climate crisis need to go hand in hand.

Lili Fuhr

Photo Gallery on Plastic

For the whole gallery

Podcast on Plastic

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Trailer: Introducing Mapping Asia's Plastic Crisis

The plastic waste crisis in Asia is real and it doesn’t seem to be getting better. It’s clear that we need a new approach to reducing disposable plastic waste and its impacts on the communities of Asia.

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Episode 1: Once Upon a Plastic Covered Beach...

We start with Melati Wijsen’s story….a young Indonesian civic advocate who went on a hunger strike in an effort to ban plastic bags on Bali. With waste collection rates hovering around 44%, are Asian countries really to blame for the pollution crisis brought by disposable plastic packaging?

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Episode 2: Shouldn't They Know Better?

We first travel to a waste bank on the island of Lembeh, Indonesia to see how recycling works (or doesn’t work) in small villages. Then we take a look at PET plastic recycling in Asian urban centres...it’s feasible…but if local governments here shoulder the burden of collecting and sorting the plastic waste...is that really making the polluters pay?

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Episode 3: Community Trash Talk

This episode looks at the rural village of Kamikatsu in Japan, as we explore the possibilities of going zero waste as a solution to solve Asia's plastic waste dilemma.

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Episode 4: Lessons From A Pandemic

In Asia, after decades of struggling with the cascade of trash caused by imported waste, and now the Covid-19 pandemic, do governments have the courage to pull together a cohesive action plan to reduce plastic waste?

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Episode 5: The Plastic Carbon Footprint

We weave together experts from this season to uncover the links between disposable plastic waste and climate change.

About Plastic Atlas

In 20 chapters, our Plastic Atlas Asia Edition deals with very different aspects of plastic, illustrated by infographics.

The question of plastic waste naturally plays an important role in the Plastic Atlas. In order to stop the plastic flood, current efforts are concentrating primarily on waste management and consumers. This plays into the hands of the plastics industry, because it can shift the responsibility for the plastics crisis onto consumers and at the same time point the finger at Southeast Asia, which suffers the most from the garbage. Because the trade with plastic waste is a lucrative business and a large part of our plastic waste from Europe, USA, Japan to Asia is exported there.

More recently, we have realised that plastic is also an acute - and even deadly - threat to human health. And not only for people, for almost every organism on this planet, plastic has harmful consequences that can cause damage to the immune and reproductive systems, the liver and kidneys, and even cancer. The Plastic Atlas deals with plastics and health and also with the question of how women and men are affected in different ways.

Plastic Atlas also shows solutions
Nevertheless, there is reason for hope. The Plastic Atlas introduces the growing global movement Break Free From Plastic, which tackles the problem at its roots, holds those responsible accountable and contributes to the emergence and growth of zero waste cities and communities around the world. A new global plastics convention could prevent growing pollution from plastics at all stages of the production cycle as well as harm to human health.

A world without plastic pollution is a vision worth fighting for. Because plastic is an issue that concerns and moves each and every one of us. And we have only just begun to understand the enormous dimensions of this crisis. A change of course requires a sound knowledge of the causes, drivers and effects of the plastics crisis and the plastic atlas.

Newly launched Plastic Atlas Asia edition provides an Asia-focused overview of the plastic waste crisis

Press Release

A series of succinct articles and infographics providing an overview of the key issues behind Asia’s plastic pollution crisis.

We don’t have a plastic problem – we have a plastic crisis.

Barbara Unmüßig

Plastic Atlas Asia Edition

Facts and figures about the world of synthetic polymers

A world without plastic?

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Publications