Marine and Polar

MARPLASTICCs

Thai school student removing plastic from the sea in Trat province. © IUCN Thailand

Photo: ©IUCN Thailand

Project Title: Marine Plastics and Coastal Communities Project (MARPLASTICCs)

Duration: 2017 - 2021

Location: Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, Thailand, and Viet Nam

Project Background: 

Plastic is cheap, lightweight, strong, and malleable which makes it a very useful material for a wide variety of applications. Scientists estimate that since the 1950s, 8,300 million tons of plastic have been produced globally but only 9 percent have been recycled. The rest has been discarded in landfills or has accumulated in the environment. It is also estimated that at the current rate of production, a total of 34,000 million tons of plastic will be produced by 2050.

Plastics are released into the environment at different stages of the plastic life cycle. In the case of oceans, studies indicate that rivers contribute around 10-20% of all ocean plastic waste every year. Plastic pollution is a production, consumption, and waste management challenges that must be tackled upstream.

Marine Plastics and Coastal Communities Project (MARPLASTICCs) Photo: ©IUCN

 

 

 

 

In 2017, with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), IUCN launched the Marine Plastics and Coastal Communities initiative (MARPLASTICCs). This is a four-year initiative in Africa and Asia that works in five countries: South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, Thailand, and Viet Nam. MARPLASTICCs Project Areas Photo: ©IUCN

MARPLASTICCs uses an integrated life-cycle approach which, supports a global transition from a linear take-make-dispose model to a circular plastics economy.

Objectives of the project:

MARPLASTICCs aims to:

  • Assist governments and regional bodies in Africa and Asia to strengthen, develop and implement legislation and other measures which, reduce plastic pollution.
  • Equip governments, industry and civil society with tools, knowledge, capacity and policy options to help close the plastic tap.
  • Ensure that the full life cycle of plastics is taken into consideration, not just the impacts of downstream “marine litter”.

MARPLASTICCs Pillars

To achieve its objectives, MARPLASTICCs works through four interconnected pillars: 

Knowledge: IUCN is developing tools to assess the plastic leaking into the environment from source-to-sea. IUCN works with countries to co-generate credible, salient, and legitimate data and analysis to understand their current plastic leakage status, set targets, agree and implement actions, and track progress towards targets over time.

Capacity: IUCN is bringing together key stakeholders to promote circular economy actions, share best practices, and stimulate and leverage national action to address plastic pollution.

Policy: IUCN is supporting policy and legislative analysis and reform, and facilitating the development of national programmes, including action plans and green economy roadmaps.

Business: IUCN is working with the private sector to develop a plastic footprint methodology measuring how much plastic is used wasted and leaking into the environment along their value chain.

Donor:

The MARPLASTICCs project is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).


 

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