Check out the October Ocean Plastics Newsletter website
Save Our Seas Initiative Launches
USAID launched the Save Our Seas Initiative on June 22, 2022. This event was co-hosted by United States Senators the Honorable Dan Sullivan and the Honorable Sheldon Whitehouse and featured USAID Administrator Samantha Power and Chief Climate Officer Gillian Caldwell. The Save Our Seas Initiative is USAID’s new flagship global initiative to combat the growing threat of ocean plastic pollution and is designed to support implementation of the landmark Save Our Seas Act 2.0 of 2020. Watch the event video here and read the press release here.
Highlights
United States Announces Partnership to Reduce Ocean Plastic Pollution in Indonesia On July 27, 2022, USAID launched a new partnership to expand plastic waste collection and recycling in Indonesia under the Save Our Seas Initiative. The USAID Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program joined Circulate Capital and Prevented Ocean Plastic Southeast Asia (POPSEA), an Indonesian plastic recycling company, in announcing a partnership to expand collection and recycling infrastructure in Indonesia to generate high-quality, traceable recycled plastic.
Highlights from the Circularity Assessment Protocol in Manila, Philippines – In this blog, Jenna Jambeck with the University of Georgia and Anna Oposa with Save Philippine Seas, share findings from their locally-driven research on plastic use and management in Manila. The assessment uses a hub and spoke model to holistically characterize how consumer plastics flow into a community, are consumed, and flow out, either through waste management systems or leakage into the environment.
Policy recommendations launched to ensure informal waste sector represented in development of global plastics treaty– A Seat at the Table – The Role of the Informal Recycling Sector in Plastic Pollution Reduction, and Recommended Policy Changes, co-developed by GRID-Arendal, the International Solid Waste Association, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing, and USAID’s Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program, presents a set of high-level policy recommendations inclusive of the informal recycling sector, enabling a just transition and the protection of the informal recycling workers’ livelihoods. The proposed recommendations focus on enhancing the role of the informal recycling sector in a circular economy as indispensable partners in the fight against plastic pollution and achieving a healthy environment for all.
From the Field
Outfitting Waste Workers: Testimonies of a Safer, More Equitable Waste Sector in the Philippines
Despite informal waste collectors’ roles as frontline city workers and one of the world’s greatest current defenses against ocean plastic pollution, they are commonly overlooked and under-resourced. USAID’s Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program, in partnership with local grantees, is empowering waste collectors and increasing their access to the resources and recognition they deserve.
Strengthening Local Waste Systems from Top to Bottom - Read how over the last year, CRS and their partner Caritas Pasig, Inc., have worked in the City of Manila to improve solid waste management through a multi-pronged approach: strengthening local government capacity and planning, promoting more sustainable community practices amongst community members, and empowering waste collectors who are vital to local waste systems.
Building a Local Ecosystem for a Flourishing Circular Economy in the Philippines Over the last year, USAID grantee Communities Organized for Resource Allocation (CORA) has set out to establish a new model for local solid waste management in Parañaque City, Metro Manila, that builds on existing local infrastructure to maximize efficiency and encourages greater participation from the surrounding community.
Funding Opportunities
Mombasa Plastics Prize: Challenge Works, together with USAID and Global Affairs Canada, launched the Mombasa Plastics Prize to seek out innovative ideas to tackle marine plastic pollution on the Kenyan coastline in Mombasa. Young adults (aged 18 and 25) across Mombasa County are invited to develop ideas and help tackle plastic waste. Learn more at https://mombasaplasticsprize.challenges.org/
Clean Cities, Blue Ocean Updates
USAID’s Clean Cities, Blue Ocean program launches hub for global learning and events. Access on-demand virtual trainings or view the program’s library of videos and past webinars spotlighting solutions to ocean plastic pollution that are being piloted across the globe.
See all employment opportunities and open grant applications on the CCBO Grants & Opportunities page.