About Us

ABOUT US

The APEC Virtual Working Group (“VWG”) on Marine Debris was formed in 2014 by the Chemical Dialogue (CD) in collaboration with the Oceans and Fisheries Working Group (OFWG) to promote innovative solutions to the issue of marine debris with a particular focus on innovations in land-based solid waste management to prevent debris from ever entering the ocean.  It is estimated that 80 percent of marine debris originates on land with over half the material coming from five rapidly developing Asia-Pacific economies where production and consumption of plastics is outpacing local waste management capacity.

The Terms of Reference for the VWG on Marine Debris identified six objectives for the VWG:

(1) promote plastics recycling; 

(2) pilot innovative technologies;

(3) advance education and information sharing;

(4) build on existing public private partnerships;

(5) share existing and develop new best practices; and

(6) create partnerships, including with other regional organizations as appropriate.

The VWG has made significant progress in creating a more enabling environment for waste management infrastructure investment. A subset of major milestones and marine debris related projects are listed below:

• Building the Infrastructure for the Circular Economy in APEC

• APEC Roadmap on Marine Debris

2018

• APEC Marine Debris Stakeholder Meeting: Improving Data and Coordination and Developing New Partnerships

• Best Practices on Circular Economy: Redefining Growth from Waste to Worth // Presentation and Report 

• Presentation to APEC Finance Deputies on Developing Bankable Waste Management Infrastructure Projects and Reducing Marine Litter

• Collaboration developed with the APEC Finance Ministers Process through the Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Partnership (APIP) and the Asia-Pacific Financial Forum (APFF)

• Ocean Conservancy and the Trash Free Seas Alliance release The Next Wave: Investment Strategies for Plastic Free Seas, containing the APEC policy and practice recommendations

• Study on Facilitating Trade and Investment in Sustainable Materials Management Solutions in the APEC Region

• APEC High-Level Meeting on Accelerating Waste Management Solutions to Reduce Marine Litter

• APIP/APFF meeting on developing waste management infrastructure in Jakarta, Indonesia

• Presentations at the APEC Senior Official Friends of the Chair Dialogue on Urbanization and High-Level Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Tourism

2016

• APEC Ministers endorsed the Policy and Practice Recommendations to Overcoming Barriers to Financing Waste Management Systems and Reducing Marine Litter 

• APEC Regulatory Cooperation Advancement Mechanism Dialogue on Sustainable Materials Management

• Organized the High-Level Meeting on Overcoming Barriers to Financing Waste Management Systems to Prevent Marine Litter in Tokyo, Japan

 2015

• Collaborated with the Philippines to engage mayors in the Asia-Pacific region during the Forum on Building Better Cities  to discuss how waste can be turned into something of value and help address waste disposal challenges

• Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and the Environment release Stemming the Tide: Land-Based strategies for a plastic-free ocean