Reflecting on the year 2023, Project STOP, co-founded by Borealis and Systemiq, has already marked major milestones and made significant impacts. From the inception of Project STOP to the end of December 2023, around 400,000 individuals gained access to comprehensive waste services through Project STOP. Many of these individuals are now using formal waste collection services for the first time, which is an important step in improving community well-being and environmental sustainability.
Since its inception in 2017, Project STOP, hand-in-hand with its governmental and non-governmental partners, has created almost 300 full-time jobs across all Project STOP locations. These jobs, which support the local economies, vary from waste collection and material sorting to waste system management and administrative roles.
Furthermore, more than 60,000 metric tons of waste, including nearly 9,000 metric tons of plastic, have been successfully collected through Project STOP as of December 2023. This not only stops pollution from entering the environment, but it also shows the program’s direct, tangible contributions to responsible waste management.
Project STOP’s ‘system enabler’ approach entails building the waste management system together with governments at the local level over several years, then stepping back so that the local units of governance can fully operate their own systems. In 2023, Project STOP handed over operations in its second and third cities – Pasuruan and Jembrana – after nearly four years operating on the ground in each location. While Project STOP continues to provide light-touch support to past locations on an as-needed basis, these handovers closed the first phase of Project STOP’s work, which focused on creating programs at a sub-regency level.
The Project STOP scale-up program, Project STOP Banyuwangi Hijau, in the Banyuwangi Regency of East Java, is focusing on the full regency level and shifted into implementation mode by opening a large-scale materials recovery facility (MRF) and launching initial service rollouts. Only three months after its inauguration in September 2023, the facility is already providing access to waste services to more than 13,500 individuals in 12 villages.
The program has built upon a long-standing strategic partnership with the Banyuwangi government, a collaboration highlighted by the direct backing of Ipuk Fiestiandani, the Banyuwangi Regent. She has emphasized the ongoing global waste issue and stressed the imperative need for cooperation among stakeholders to prevent environmental waste leakage. Ipuk has expressed Banyuwangi Regency’s commitment to Project STOP Banyuwangi Hijau, striving for tangible improvements in both environmental health and the well-being of Banyuwangi residents.
“We are very proud to further extend our commitment to Project STOP, striving to provide Indonesia’s first Regency-wide waste management system, enabling access to sustainable waste collection to all residents in Banyuwangi—fully true to our purpose of reinventing essentials for sustainable living,” says Thomas Gangl, Borealis CEO. “Borealis will fully finance the construction of a second material recovery facility under the Project STOP Banyuwangi Hijau expansion and the roll-out of waste services to an additional 250,000 people in the region,” he further adds.
The success of Project STOP can be largely attributed to its meaningful collaborations and close relationships with various Indonesian government bodies, including the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs (CMMAI), the National Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) and the Banyuwangi regency government.
Ultimately, the Project STOP partners are aiming to provide waste collection services to 2 million people, creating over 1,000 jobs and collecting 230,000 metric tons of waste annually, including 25,000 metric tons of plastic.
As noted by Ben Dixon, Partner, Systemiq, “These achievements were only possible through the work of our visionary partners, notably including the government of Indonesia and our strategic partners from across the public, private and nonprofit sectors. We are proud of Project STOP’s accomplishments to date and hope that our efforts can help inspire ever broadening impacts in the future.”
For more information about Project STOP please visit: www.stopoceanplastics.com