The Climate Benefits of Plastic Waste Management in India and Southeast Asia

Waste management and recycling have critical roles to play in supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy. Plastics, in particular, contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at every step of their lifecycle, making climate change and plastic pollution interconnected stressors on the environment. 

Leveraging The Circulate Initiative’s Plastic Lifecycle Assessment Calculator for the Environment and Society (PLACES) with scenario modeling, this report highlights four key insights that underscore how investing in proper plastic waste management and recycling can result in significant GHG reductions in six countries in South and Southeast Asia.

Key takeaways from this report include:

• Recycling all mismanaged plastic waste in the six markets across South and Southeast Asia can reduce GHG emissions by 229 million tonnes, the equivalent of shutting down 61 coal-fired power plants for a year.
• Diverting one tonne of plastic waste from open burning in any of the six markets towards proper collection and recycling can result in avoiding more than three tonnes of GHG emissions.
• Incineration and waste-to-energy approaches to plastic waste management in the six countries can result in 20 million tonnes of emissions in 2030; this can be avoided by opting for plastic waste recovery and recycling solutions.
• Meeting the national recycling targets of the six markets in South and Southeast Asia can result in a 10% reduction in global GHG emissions from plastics end-of-life in 2030.