Borealis Project to Focus on Marine Debris in Indonesia

Austrian polyolefin and chemical supplier Borealis AG has provided the lion’s share of funding for Project STOP Ocean Plastics (Stop), which will focus on Indonesia for the first round of its waste recovery efforts.

Project Stop is a joint initiative with SystemIQ and Sustainable Waste Indonesia, and works with city governments to eliminate leakage of plastics into the ocean, increasing plastics recycling and supporting wider system changes required for a plastics circular economy.

Phase one, which concluded in October last year, included feasibility and baseline studies and other preparatory work to launch the initiative in a Southeast Asian city.

As part of the second phase, the city of Muncar, a major fishing port in East Java, has been chosen for the first city-partnership project.

“Indonesia’s economic growth and plastics consumption has outpaced its ability to manage plastic waste,” said Vienna-based Borealis in an April 26 statement.

This, it said, has made Indonesia the world’s second largest source of marine plastic debris, after China.

“Addressing marine litter is a critical challenge for our industry and a key focus of Borealis’ social engagement strategy,” said CEO Mark Garrett.