Date: Wednesday, 28 October 2020 Time: 16:00–17:00 (SGT, +8 GMT) / 09:00–10:00 (CET, +1 GMT) Watch Webinar
Plastic, with its low cost of production, lightweight, and ability to withstand contamination makes its application highly essential in the industrial production and distribution of goods, including in the medical sector. While plastic has positively impacted our lives in many ways, the overconsumption of plastic and its mismanagement along its lifecycle have detrimental impacts on the environment, health, society, and economy, with many cross-cutting factors.
Preventing plastic waste is more than addressing it as a waste management challenge. It needs to be tackled at various level with ensuring representation of stakeholders involved in all stages of the plastic life cycle. Reduction of plastics must go beyond recycling and consider a systemic transition towards circular economy promoting alternatives to single-use plastic and favouring private sector initiatives.
Objectives
This webinar will explore:
- General trends and challenges in Asia and Europe
- The role of businesses in tackling single-use plastics
- Case studies from Asia and Europe
The outcomes of this webinar will feed into the Asia-Europe Environment Forum Annual Conference 2020 which will take place on 9-11 November 2020 (Learn more about this event and Register here).
Speakers
Ms Grazyna PULAWSKA, Acting Director, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)
Grazyna Pulawska joined ASEF in February 2010. She is responsible for the Asia-Europe Environment Forum programme, which aims to strengthen co-operation between Asian and European stakeholders in the field of environmental and sustainable development. Grazyna worked for the Ministry of Economy in Poland, working in the field of regional development. She has also been active in the NGO sector, mainly with the Service Civil International network in Belgium and the Development Wheel, a Bangladesh-based NGO specialising in supporting local entrepreneurship and fair trade.She received her Master's degree in International Relations through a joint programme between the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris and the Warsaw School of Economics.
Ms Nur A’in A RAZAK, Project Officer, Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)
Nur A'in A RAZAK joined ASEF in August 2017 as a Project Officer. She has been implementing projects and involved in research activities under the Asia-Europe Environment Forum (ENVforum). Prior to joining ASEF, she worked with the Singapore Committee for UN Women in supporting various international initiatives seeking to improve the lives of women and girls in Asia and the Pacific region. Her interests include social innovation, sustainable development, and social justice. She aspires to shape policies that would help create better realities. She received her Bachelor of Social Science degree, with a double major in Political Science and Public Policy and Public Management, from Singapore Management University.
Dr Lewis AKENJI, Executive Director, SEED
Dr Lewis Akenji serves as Executive Director of SEED. His responsibilities include overall management of functions and strategic development of the organisation. Before joining SEED, Lewis was Director of Sustainable Consumption and Production at the Japan-based think-tank Institute for Global Environmental Strategies. Among others, he oversaw policy research and activities on sustainable societies - including sustainability governance, resource efficiency, and sustainable lifestyles. Lewis has extensive experience working with policy and development agencies, research, and programme deployment. He has led multiple international projects, including with: the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Union, UN Environment, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Lewis has a Master of Science degree in Sustainable Resource Management from Technische Universität München, and a Doctor of Science from the University of Helsinki.
Dr Dora ALMASSY, Researcher, Central European University (CEU)
Dora Almassy is a post-doc researcher affiliated with the Environmental Sciences and Policy Department of the Central European University (Vienna, Austria). As a researcher, she works on topics in the intersection of environmental governance and monitoring, and she has been involved in various international research projects focusing on environmental sustainability topics and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Since 2017 January, she also takes part in the Naturvation project (Nature-based Urban Innovation), a four-year, Horizon 2020 research project on the assessment of nature-based solutions in cities. Between 2009 and 2014, she worked as an expert at the Environmental Financing Topic Area of the Regional Environmental Center (REC) for Central and Eastern Europe. Dora holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and Policy from the Central European University.
Dr Trung Thang NGUYEN, Deputy Director General, Institute of Strategy and Policies on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Viet Nam
Dr Nguyen Trung Thang is the Deputy Director General of the Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), a think tank that belongs to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) of Viet Nam. He has nearly 20-year experience in study/research and development of strategies/policies on environmental protection and climate change. His expertise focuses on pollution control, waste management, sustainable production and consumption, climate change. He participated actively in development of the National Strategy on Environmental Protection, Party Resolution 24-NQ/TW on proactive responding to climate change, strengthening natural resources management and environmental protection, Action Plan for the Implementation of Vietnam’s Sustainable Development Goals towards 2030 of the Natural Resources and Environment sector.
Mr Tom CLARK, Expert Advisor, SWITCH-Asia
Based in Australia, Tom has over 30 years’ international consulting experience in sustainability and climate change, including work for the EU, national governments and industry. He has broad experience in waste and resources management, including sustainable design, cleaner production, industrial ecology and circular economy. In this field he has undertaken various projects for the EU and others. He is presently supporting work for the EU’s SWITCH-ASIA programme promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production in Pakistan. This has included reviewing EU policy and legislation in waste, plastics and circular economy and assessing application and lessons for Pakistan.
Mrs Jaruwan KHAMMUANG, CEO, Fang Thai Factory Limited Partnership
Mrs Jaruwan KHAMMUANG is the CEO of Fang Thai Factory Limited Partnership. Fang Thai provides one of the most environment-friendly options of packaging products in the market. Its paper is not only biodegradable but also water, oil and grease resistant with a non-chemical coating solution that is made from rice. Fang Thai currently targets like-minded business customers who share social and environmental concerns. In addition to packaging products, Fang Thai offers handicraft such as notebooks, calendars and souvenirs with customised design and authenticity.
