KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – In a region where seas are awash with trash, East Timor is set to become the world’s first country to recycle all its plastic waste after teaming up with Australian researchers to build a revolutionary recycling plant.
The $40-Million Recycling Plant
The facility will ensure that no plastic used in the Southeast Asian nation becomes waste — instead, it will be turned into new products. The Timorese government signed a memorandum of understanding with Australia’s Mura Technology to establish a non-profit called RESPECT, which will run the plant, expected to launch by the end of 2020.
“This is a small country where we can make a statement – making the whole country the first to be plastic neutral, in a region where there is the largest pollution of marine life,” said Thomas Maschmeyer, co-inventor of the recycling technology.
“Plastic – if you don’t dispose of it well – is a terrible thing, but if you can dispose of it well, it’s a great thing,” Maschmeyer told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Asia’s Plastic Waste Crisis
In many parts of Asia, fast-growing economies and populations, coupled with vast coastlines and densely populated cities, have filled local seas with trash and plastic waste. Garbage collection services and infrastructure have largely failed to keep pace with rapid development.
Key statistics on the global plastic waste problem:
- 8 million tonnes of plastics are dumped in the world’s oceans each year — roughly one truckload per minute
- $1.3 billion is lost annually by the Asia-Pacific region’s tourism, fishing, and shipping industries due to plastic pollution
- China, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand are among the top contributors to ocean plastic waste
Impoverished East Timor, with a population of just 1.3 million, generates about 70 tonnes of plastic waste each day according to government data, most of which is collected from beaches and urban areas and then burned in the open.
The Technology Behind RESPECT
The new plant will use chemical technology to quickly convert plastic waste into liquid or gas without adding mineral oil — a capability no other recycler currently matches at this scale.
“The issue with plastic is what you do when you’ve finished using that product,” said Maschmeyer, who teaches at the University of Sydney. “In our case we can chemically recycle it and put it back into the circular economy.”
The same technology is already planned for recycling plants in Canada, Australia, and Britain.
A Model for Developing Nations
The plant will run at no cost to Asia’s youngest democracy. All profits will go towards supporting community projects and waste collectors in East Timor.
“Not only will it make a big difference in plastic waste reduction and reduce harm to our cherished marine life, but Timor-Leste can be an example to the rest of the world,” said Demetrio do Amaral de Carvalho, East Timor’s environment secretary.
If successful, RESPECT will serve as a model for other developing countries struggling with plastic waste.
“This will be a really valuable program, not just for the people of Timor-Leste, but also to share the knowledge and technologies with other countries and islands globally,” said Jo Ruxton, CEO of Plastic Oceans UK.