The United States, through its Clean Cities program, Blue Ocean US Agency for International Development (USAID), has joined forces with Circulate Capital, an impact-focused investment management firm, and Prevented Ocean Plastic Southeast Asia (POPSEA), a plastic recycling company that is currently developing developing segregation and collection infrastructure in underserved communities across Indonesia, in announcing a partnership to expand collection and recycling infrastructure in Indonesia to produce traceable, high-quality recycled plastic.
“USAID is pleased to support this new partnership featuring a mix of public and private financing that will help meet the growing demand for recycled plastic while strengthening community solid waste management systems,” said USAID Mission Director Jeff Cohen at the event held as Indonesia prepares. to host the G20 summit this year. “Together we will help capture and prevent harmful plastic waste from reaching the ocean and turning it into profits and livelihoods for the people of Indonesia.”
Initially, the partnership will focus on the city of Semarang, Indonesia, one of the largest cities in Java. Like many other cities, Semarang is increasingly being pressured to reduce and recycle an ever-increasing volume of waste but lacks an economically or logistically viable recycling system. By 2025, 68 percent of Indonesia’s more than 270 million population is expected to live in urban areas, where only about half of waste is collected.
“The Indonesian government increasingly views mixed finance as an important tool to mobilize funding to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Scenaider Siahaan, deputy minister for development funding at the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas). “Integrated financing in waste management brings opportunities for private investment to support a circular economy, closing the loop through product recycling to reduce material losses, thereby minimizing environmental damage and preventing resource depletion.”
This partnership will expand collection and recycling infrastructure, build local government capacity for solid waste management planning and management, and mobilize and empower the informal waste sector which is essential for local waste management, but is often under-resourced. For example, the new facility where plastic will be collected will process about 30 tonnes of material per day and will help provide new income for about 100 employees and local waste collectors who are looking for materials.
This partnership combines the strengths of development agencies and private investment to bring coordinated technical expertise and mixed financing to start-ups that are best positioned to develop new, innovative models for reducing marine plastic pollution through collection, aggregation and recycling. Contributions from partners include:
“We are proud to partner with USAID to support Prevented Ocean Plastic Southeast Asia to expand the best collection and recycling infrastructure across Indonesia, including in communities where collections are limited or non-existent today,” said Regula Schegg, Managing Capital Circulate Capital. Director for Asia. “Through this partnership, we collectively have the opportunity to demonstrate blended finance in action and create a blueprint for preventing plastic pollution in Indonesia and the region.”
Through this partnership, Prevented Ocean Plastic Southeast Asia aims to improve Indonesia’s recycling supply chain and provide traceable, high-quality recycled plastic to global markets, benefiting all actors along the waste chain—from bottle collection to consumption.
“We are pleased that this new partnership featuring a mix of public and private financing will help us improve Indonesia’s collection and recycling infrastructure through Prevented Ocean Plastic Southeast Asia, with our long-term partner Bantam Materials,” said Daniel Law, CEO, Polindo. “Working with the Clean Cities, Blue Ocean and Circulate Capital programs will allow us to develop the infrastructure to meet the growing demand for traceable recycled plastic, while creating reliable incomes for people in Indonesia.”
According to Raffi Schieir, director of Bantam Materials UK, USAID’s investment in Prevented Ocean South East Asia “is a testament to the success of the Prevented Ocean Plastic model, which has proven to be replicable across any risky coastline for large-scale impact. . We are proud to be the first recycling program to receive a USAID investment and look forward to seeing the social and environmental difference this partnership will make.”
For more information, visit https://www.usaid.gov/indonesia or contact USAID Communications Specialist Swiny Andina at +62 (21) 5083-1000 or sandina@usaid.gov.
