Wasting away: How strengthening our waste infrastructure will help heal our planet

In the Philippines there’s a small city called Dagupan. It’s mostly a fishing village. But fishing over the past generation has become very hard because their beach has been used as a trash dump. It’s used as a dump because they have very limited waste infrastructure. And all that waste – including plastic waste – is getting into the waterways and harming the very ecosystem that helps sustain their lives.

Now, if you or I had a chronic medical condition – a problem that impacted our entire bio-system – we’d go to a doctor. And there would be a host of specialists and technologies to help us. I know this first hand… I survived stage four stomach cancer mainly because I had access to an entire system of collaborative healthcare.

But we don’t have that with our environment. So, this fishing village in the Philippines – like tens of thousands of towns and cities around the world – has historically been left on its own to deal with this massive waste issue.

For a long time, no one except the locals noticed. There’s a saying that all trash is a local problem. Except now it’s become a national and international problem. Waste is flowing down the rivers and into the ocean and now it’s harming our entire global ecosystem.

When we saw what was happening – with some of our products, plastics – it seemed natural to us at Dow that we needed to be part of the solution. So, we’ve developed a broad team of collaborators who are helping villages like Dagupan fix its waste problem.

It matches perfectly with our ambition to bring our collaborative mindset to bear on what has become one of the most important sustainability issues of the time.

We at Dow have the materials science expertise, the desire, and the scale to help drive change – at the local, regional, and international level and help solve these issues. And if we can, then shouldn’t we?

So, what’s the solution?

Well, let’s go back to my health example. If you fall and break your leg, we could give you an aspirin. That might help with the pain – but it won’t fix the problem, will it? Sooner or later, someone is going to have to heal and strengthen your leg so you can walk again.

The same is true when it comes to waste, including plastic waste. We must fix the systemic lack of infrastructure and not let the plastics go to waste in the first place.

Dugapan isn’t alone, of course. It’s simply one of many places where the lack of infrastructure is crippling our ability to close the loop. 

There are 10 rivers on the globe, for example, that deliver 90% of plastics waste to the ocean.

One of those is the Mekong River in Thailand

I spent 11 years of my career in Asia, two of those in Thailand. I love the people and the culture. And I know first-hand how it serves as a microcosm for how we got to where we are today with plastics waste.

In just one generation, Thailand grew from a low-income country to an upper-income country.

And like with every other country whose middle class has more income, they spend it to make their lives better. Enlarging the middle class in many countries means that – for the first times in their lives – millions of people can be more food secure and they’re consuming more packaged goods, especially more diverse fruits, vegetables, bottled drinks, and frozen foods. Food delivery growth is up nearly 13% in Thailand, for example, because they can afford new and more nutritious foods. They also have a surging eCommerce business which is increasing plastics consumption.

No one would deny the Thai people this new quality of life. Neither you nor I would want to go back to the days of having to go to a local market – every day – to get just enough food for the next day because we either couldn’t afford more or didn’t have a way to keep it all fresh. The growing middle class in Thailand does today. As do the growing middle classes throughout Asia. Millions and millions are being lifted out of poverty and now have access to food, medicine, modern conveniences that most of us take for granted.

All that consumption requires a lot of packaging and packaging means plastics. Why? Because science tells us that plastics is by far the most economical, most carbon-friendly packaging we have. It does a great job of prolonging the life of food while at the same time protecting fragile electronics. And, compared to cardboard or aluminum, for instance, it’s a far better option when you consider greenhouse gases.

But here’s a problem. Waste infrastructure in places like Thailand did not grow with the economy and middle class and in many parts of the country there is still little waste management. In other places, there is none at all.

And with nowhere else to go, the plastics end up in rivers and eventually washed to the oceans. One of the big things Dow and others are trying to do is get the infrastructure in place: ensuring people understand there is real value to plastics, closing the loop, and creating a circular economy.

That’s why, tomorrow, I’m going to Thailand to sign a pair of MOUs designed to help close the loop on plastics in that country. We’re forming a strategic partnership to demonstrate the validity of the entire post-consumer resin process so we can begin demonstrating that plastics have a value we can’t let go to waste.

Cities like Dugapan – and countries like Thailand – are today working with a vast array of partners to fix its infrastructure and we’re doing all we can to help them.

The Alliance to End Plastics Waste – of which Dow is a founding member – is one of these partners. The Alliance is leading what is probably the most coordinated and comprehensive waste management effort undertaken since the mid-1970s and is working with partners all around the world to develop local solutions.

We are driving progress in four key areas:

• Infrastructure development
• Education and engagement
• Innovation
• Clean up

All of these must work together – simultaneously – to make this effort effective.

We must let science and sound business principles guide us as we scale these local solutions enough that they have regional and international impact. There are no easy fixes. No silver bullets. Just a lot of good people at companies and groups around the world collaborating to make a difference – healing our planet together.