USAID Municipal Waste Recycling Program (MWRP) has awarded grants and technical assistance to promising organizations in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka working to reduce marine plastic pollution.

Every year, eight million tons of plastic waste is discarded into the world’s oceans with the potential to enter the human food supply through fish products. Since 2016, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Municipal Waste Recycling Program has awarded grants and technical assistance to promising organizations in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka working to reduce marine plastic pollution.

Tackling plastic waste pollution from source to sea has become the priority of the Government of Indonesia. “Aligned with the newly launched National Plan of Action for Marine Plastic Debris, the Government of Indonesia is committed to reducing marine plastic debris by 70 percent in 2025,” Said Dr. Adi. “Our fisheries, food security and tourism economy rely on a healthy ocean, which is why we set this ambitious target,” he added.

“While the challenge of ocean plastics is global, the solutions need to be local,” said Ambassador Donovan. “The U.S. Government, through USAID, promotes a local approach to reducing ocean plastics through grants to organizations pursuing innovative solutions for plastic waste challenge. This grant signing is an important milestone in our 70 years of diplomatic relations, which we celebrate in 2019. We are proud of this partnership and the prosperous, healthy futures it will help ensure for generations to come.”

During this project, Gringgo seek to improve community participation and build reliable data systems of Denpasar’s waste ecosystem by establishing a crowdsourcing model and improving cooperation between community residents and the city’s solid waste management operators. Gringgo defines “crowdsourcing” as a form of open collaboration in which individuals and/or organizations participate voluntarily in collecting and analyzing data, interpreting the results of data, and solving problems. This approach will enable Gringgo to accelerate the collection of geospatial and solid waste ecosystem data and will facilitate the development of software tools and a targeted communication and education strategy. Technical inputs will be combined with community education and engagement to promote waste separation at source, improved recycling, and increased incomes for waste collectors.