Community-based plastic waste management initiatives: A key to combating plastic pollution

Arockia E J Ferdin, Jia Wei Chook, Patricia Manzano-Fischer

The advent of plastic in the Anthropocene is transforming our blue planet into a ‘plastic planet.’ While key technologies exist to reduce, recycle, and repurpose plastic waste, it remains a human-induced hazard threatening life on Earth. This chapter underscores the importance of establishing community-based plastic waste management (CBPWM) initiatives to combat plastic pollution. It provides a definition of CBPWM and elaborates on the essential components necessary for implementation. Through a series of case studies spanning diverse global contexts, including urban and rural settings, this chapter illustrates how communities have responded to their unique needs. It also highlights the challenges faced by these communities in establishing effective CBPWM systems. Drawing on these case studies and identified challenges, the authors offer recommendations that may assist individuals, communities, local organizations, government authorities, environmental educators, and policymakers in formulating locally adapted policies to address community-specific needs. These recommendations are a vital contribution to the global fight against plastic pollution, demonstrating that community engagement at the local level can have far-reaching impacts on environmental protection and the well-being of all living things on Earth.

Book name Combating Plastic Pollution in Terrestrial Environment. Springer, Singapore

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