Marine litter is a complex, multifaceted issue involving a wide array of actors and stakeholders, each contributing to its creation and experiencing its effects in different ways. Its interconnected nature makes it far more than just an isolated environmental problem—it has a cascading impact across ecosystems and communities. For example, poorly managed plastic waste from urban areas can enter waterways, affecting marine ecosystems, harming biodiversity, and disrupting livelihoods that depend on the ocean, such as fishing and tourism. Further, the economic costs of clean up and the loss of revenue from degraded coastal attractions exacerbate the burden on local governments and businesses. Additionally, the issue also has global implications, with transboundary pollution affecting countries far from the source. Addressing the issue requires a collaborative approach, recognising its systemic nature, and involving diverse stakeholders to mitigate its wide ranging effects. These include governments, industries, local communities, environmental organisations, and even individual citizens.
The PROMISE project and its objectives
Over the last four decades, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and India have seen significant growth in tourism, particularly along the shorelines of the Lakshadweep Sea. This has had a positive impact across the regions, increasing the influx of people, helping the tourism and services industry, and boosting the overall local economy. However, this growth has also increased marine litter, a large part of which is driven by the high consumption of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and convenience products, many of which are packaged in single-use plastics. This issue over time has become a pressing issue in South Asia and raised concerns across the region, requiring a multidimensional approach in tackling it.
To address this specific challenge, a consortium of experienced organisations with complementary expertise came together under the EU funded SWITCH-Asia PROMISE project, launching a multifaceted initiative to tackle the challenge. The organisations included Maldives National University (MNU), Maldives; Parley for the Oceans (Parley), Maldives; National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) of Sri Lanka; The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), India; STENUM Asia Sustainable Development Society (STENUM Asia), India and adelphi, Germany.
The project initiated a range of initiatives to help tourism clusters along the Lakshadweep shorelines to prevent leakage of waste from land-based sources into the Lakshadweep Sea in line with the Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) approach. To maximise its impact, it concentrated its efforts on tourism clusters located along the Lakshadweep shorelines in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and India, leveraging these areas' prominence as key tourist destinations to promote sustainable practices.
Waste management was identified as a priority sector across all three countries, serving as a common cross-cutting theme. The initiative focused particularly on implementing solutions at the highest level of the waste management hierarchy which is prevention. The project promoted sustainable tourism by focusing on up-stream interventions amongst hotels and guest houses aimed at preventing waste from occurring in the first place. Since plastics represent the predominant material contributing to land based marine litter, PROMISE also targeted plastics as a priority sector.
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Activities and interventions
Key activities included conducting scientific analyses to map sources and consequences of marine litter, facilitating access to finance for MSMEs to implement high-cost waste minimisation solutions, and supporting MSMEs from the tourism clusters in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and India, in integrating waste reduction strategies into their operations and overarching strategies. The project also engaged in policy advocacy, strengthening regional waste management frameworks to reduce litter in coastal areas, while also prioritising knowledge dissemination and consumer outreach to sensitise stakeholders on waste prevention.
Some of the key insights from analysis of waste generation, flow, and management that emerged were that primary data was vital, plastic was the dominant material, waste segregation at source was weak or non-existent, there was a lack of awareness on tackling waste issues, and there was a need to tackle leakage points.
These learnings were further taken forward to create awareness and ensure substantial engagement with diverse stakeholders including over 150+ Policy Makers who developed policy solution prototypes developed to tackle Marine Litter. The project saw engagement with consumers as well through beach clean-ups, website and social media. A total of 1,075,712 kg of debris and plastic were cleaned up, which was further treated appropriately.
Lakshadweep zero waste alliance (LOWA) I https://lowa.ngo
LOWA, created as a part of the PROMISE project is registered as an NGO in Maldives, with the aim to promote sustainable consumption and production along Lakshadweep shorelines in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, and India thereby contributing towards a zero-waste future. Its guiding principles are collaboration, knowledge sharing, and coming up with innovative solutions.
The alliance will encompass a range of activities, including assessing and providing implementation support to enterprises and local entities for enhancing resource efficiency and waste minimisation. It will also focus on developing knowledge resources related to Sustainable Consumption and Production, environmental protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and waste management. Additionally, the Alliance will prioritise training and awareness-raising initiatives, policy analysis and recommendations, support for obtaining relevant environmental certifications, and the recognition of best practices through awards and events.
Become a Member:
LOWA membership applications are open and interested organisations or individuals can log on to https://lowa.ngo/ for more details on why and how to join LOWA as a member.
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