Prospect Expert Platform

This Project is now closed

PRE-IDENTIFICATION OF A NATIONAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME ON REDUCTION OF PLASTIC WASTE AND MARINE LITTER IN THE PHILIPPINES

Country The Philippines
Sectors Environment
Description
Language English
Status Framework
CV Deadline 2018-06-13 (Closed Project)
Background

The transition to a circular economy, where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the generation of waste minimised, is an essential contribution to develop a sustainable, low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy. Such transition is an opportunity to transform economies and generate new and sustainable competitive advantages. The circular economy can boost competitiveness by protecting businesses against scarcity of resources and volatile prices, it can help create new business opportunities and innovative, more efficient ways of producing and consuming. It also helps create local jobs at all skills levels and opportunities for social integration and cohesion. At the same time, it saves energy and helps avoid the irreversible damages caused by using up resources at a rate that exceeds the Earth's capacity to renew them. An important wider benefit of the circular economy is the lowering carbon dioxide emissions levels (e.g more than 90% of plastics are produced from fossil fuels feedstock).

A number of sectors face specific challenges in the context of the circular economy, because of the specificities of their products or value-chains and their environmental footprint. Plastics is one of them. The proliferation of plastic litter has become a major issue of concern notably in Asia, the latter contributing to a sheer proportion of global plastic waste. Approximately 80% of marine litter comes from plastics. Current estimates indicate that more than 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean every year, impacting ecosystems, killing millions of sea birds, sea mammals and fish negatively affecting the ocean food chain. It is projected that at current rates by 2050 oceans will contain more plastic than fish by weight. The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals include a target to prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, including marine litter. Building on the international momentum to take action on the issue of plastic litter the European Union has developed a plastics strategy which was adopted in January 2018 and which intends to tackle the interrelated problems of fossil feedstock dependence, recycling and reuse and plastics leakage into the environment.

A combination of inadequate waste management systems and cultural issues result in a large fraction of the plastic that is being used in the society to end up in the environment and ultimately being transported via rivers into the ocean. Poor practices of solid waste management, lack of infrastructure and a lack of. awareness of the public at large about the consequences of plastic pollution further aggravate the situation. Marine litter and excessive plastics in the environment are clear symbols of resource inefficient economies. The solution is to tackle the problem at its source. Valuable materials are polluting beaches and damaging the environment instead of being pumped back into our economy. Therefore, a circular economy approach which puts emphasis on preventing waste and on recycling and reuse of materials and products is the best solution to the marine litter problem. The Philippines ranks as the third world's largest source of marine plastic debris after China and Indonesia. Other ASEAN countries like Thailand and Vietnam also list among of the world’s biggest contributors of ocean plastic waste. The problem is expected to worsen as ASEAN countries’ growing economies lead to rising incomes and exploding demand for consumer products.

There is an urgent need to help the Philippines better manage its plastic waste and develop a framework that can help capture the value of plastics while reducing massive inputs of plastic waste into the ocean. A creation of a shift in mindset that sees waste as valuable materials can help set the conditions for extended producer responsibility (EPR) and the creation of potential avenues for job creation and business opportunities in the waste management, collection and recycling industries of single-use plastics.

Objectives

Global Objective Strengthening awareness and application of circular economy principles and practices in the Philippines.

Specific Objective(s)

  1. Design of a strategy founded on circular economy principles promoting resources efficiency, recycling, improved waste management and jobs creation and leading to a progressive and measurable reduction of plastic waste entering the marine environment.

  2. Pre-identification of a plastics waste management national support programme for the Philippines to be implemented through suitable cooperation modality. The programme should foresee a phased approach through implementation of pilot projects.

Activities

Requested Service Under the current assignment a team of two experts will be tasked to carry out the following :

  • Analyse state of play of plastics waste management in the Philippines, review existing legislation. To the best extent possible meet national and regional authorities responsible for regulating plastic production, plastic waste collection and recycling and review current progress in the area of sustainable waste management.

  • Conduct an analysis of key stakeholders and target groups, identify comparative institutional and individual capacities, their potential roles, mandates, expected level of ownership and commitment and the degree and nature of their involvement. Considerations will be given of the stakeholders’ geographical location within the Philippines and viability of engagement. Stakeholders and interlocutors should also include organisations and community groups such as NGOs, businesses, consumer and environmental associations, marine aquaculture, fishing and tourism sector actors etc…as appropriate.

  • Identify needs and challenges in the waste management sector (with focus on plastics). Identify scope for synergies and complementarity with work conducted or planned by other international donors. Assess scope for advancement of lessons learned from the implementation of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan in Europe for the Philippines and options for sharing best practices from European businesses in the area of circular economy with focus on improving plastics waste management and reduction of plastic waste impact on the marine environment.

  • Identify niche areas of comparative advantage for the EU to lead in areas of plastic management and circular economy in the Philippines

  • Prepare a Strategic Assessment for an improved plastics waste management system applicable to the Philippines and a draft strategy of cooperation between the EU Delegation and the Government of the Philippines according to a suitable and potentially favoured partnership modality by the Government.

  • Define the general content of a possible future national EU support project, its structure, modality of implementation, key activities, expected outcomes and estimated budget. Justify how individual activities and results will contribute to achieving the project’s overall objective and how these will contribute to strengthen the principles of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan and plastics strategy by tangibly improving the situation of plastic pollution in the Philippines.

  • Identify and justify the most relevant and acceptable implementation modality of prospective/potential future EU support on circular economy and plastic waste management in the Philippines. Information on options for engagement in the Philippines for the EU Delegation within the framework of current cooperation relationship with the Government will be provided at the briefing session.

  • Review current policy and Government's programming framework in the waste management sector with focus on plastics management, take stock of ongoing initiatives, assess experience and lessons learnt in the Philippines through key Government, private sector programmes and actions supported by international development partners and donors.

  • Analyse the risks that may negatively impact possible future EU support in the Philippines in the area of circular economy and marine plastic waste including risk management and identification of mitigation strategies.

  • Definition of a baseline data criteria allowing for progress and impact of a potential EU national support on circular economy and marine plastic waste to be measured against a set of defined outcomes and indicators.

  • Conduct an assessment of the financial and economic sustainability of a prospective future project (including possible other sources of funding)

Project Position 1

Position Team Leader - Environmental Economist or Circular Economy Specialist
Qualification

Master's Degree in Environmental Economics or related discipline. In the absence of a Master's Degree, equivalent professional experience above the Experience requirements listed underneath will be considered. PhD Degree will be considered an advantage.

Required Experience
  • At least 12 years of relevant experience in the sector(s).
  • At least 8 years of professional experience in managing projects in the field of waste management, and marine litter/marine pollution.
  • Familiarity with ASEAN waste management and environmental policy
  • Solid understanding of the circular economy concept. Previous engagement with projects addressing Circular Economy and plastics will be considered an advantage.
  • Familiarity with EU-ASEAN relations and EU development cooperation methods and programming procedures.
  • 3 missions ideally of 1-3 months duration leading to project design/identification and formulation in the area of waste management or marine litter, marine pollution, plastic management or related topic.
  • Expertise in stakeholders' analysis, project design and logical framework.
  • Strong presentation, organizational, reporting and communication skills.
Estimated Manpower 45 working days
Mission Begin 15 July 2018
Mission End 31 October 2018
Contact Contact us

Project Position 2

Position Plastic waste management specialist
Qualification

Master's Degree in Environmental Sciences or related discipline. In the absence of a Master's Degree, equivalent professional experience above the Experience requirements listed underneath will be considered. PhD Degree will be considered an advantage.

Required Experience
  • At least 12 years of relevant experience in the sector(s)
  • At least 8 years of professional experience in the field of waste management and/or marine pollution
  • At least 6 years of professional experience in the field of plastic waste management in the context of circular economy.
  • Familiarity with the European Union Circular economy Action Plan and the EU Plastic Strategy
  • Experience with EU-ASEAN relations and EU development cooperation methods and programming procedures is essential
  • Expertise in problem analysis, stakeholders' analysis and project design and logical framework
Estimated Manpower 45 working days
Mission Begin 15 July 2018
Mission End 31 October 2018
Contact Contact us