Borealis' Project STOP expands waste collection services to over 300,000 people

Project STOP and its partners have reached significant milestones and successes in demonstrating a model for expanding affordable waste management and recycling solutions to help address the plastic waste challenge in Indonesia.

By the end of 2022, the programme has provided access to waste management services to over 300,000 people across three cities in Indonesia — to most for the first time —, built five waste processing facilities and enabled the collection of more than 40,000 tons of waste (including more than 5,000 tons of plastics).

Project STOP is co-funded by Borealis and Systemiq, who share the same vision: to permanently stop waste leaking into the environment by supporting the establishment of low-cost waste management solutions, creating real impact through action on the ground.

Waste sortation training at school in Banyuwangi.

The key objectives of the programme include:

Reducing waste leakage into the environment by providing affordable, reliable and formal waste collection to all citizens

Promoting resource efficiency and circularity that transform waste into feedstock for recycling

Achieving economic sustainability

Benefitting the communities through improved public health and creating permanent job opportunities in waste and material sorting sectors

The programme’s first city partnership started in 2017 in Muncar, a coastal fishing community in Banyuwangi Regency, East Java, Indonesia. Active support from Project STOP for the Muncar waste management system ended in February 2022 and to date, the local government authorities are continuing to operate the system successfully.

Active support for the waste management system in Pasuruan Regency, East Java, ended in February 2023. The project continues to operate in the Jembrana Regency in Bali, and has started its expansion into the Banyuwangi Regency, East Java, with the construction of a new material recovery facility (MRF).

Beach cleanup in Jembrana.

"Project STOP’s impressive results generated during challenging times enable us to demonstrate the important role of improved waste management solutions at scale, to avoid negative environmental impacts of plastic waste," Thomas Gangl, CEO, Borealis, said. "This well complements Borealis’ endeavors towards a circular system approach for plastics by driving reduction, reuse and design for recycling.”

Jason Hale, Director of Operations, Ocean Plastics Asia, Systemiq, said, “In 2022, we materially increased households served and tons captured in our second and third Project STOP cities. Over 300,000 people are now participating in our waste services, and it has been offered to many more. More importantly, we completed capacity building with our local partners in these cities, setting these programs on course for long-term sustainability and growth.”

Scaling up waste management and recycling solutions is challenging in Indonesia because of the financing required to build and operate waste management systems, and the need for large-scale community behavior changes and skills development amongst waste system operators.

Organic waste and some types of plastic waste (particularly multi-layer plastics made from multiple types of plastics) have very low value for recycling or composting.

So far, the project has achieved participation rates ranging from 50% to 87% depending on the location, and on average slightly more than 30% of non- organic recyclable materials are sent for recycling across all partner communities.