The role of packaging regulations and standards in driving the circular economy

This publication reviews the development of packaging waste policies and standards as a response to the challenge of the growing crisis of plastics leaking into the environment in South-East Asia (particularly the marine environment). The publication aims to identify the role that policy interventions can play in addressing the growing environmental challenges posed by packaging and packaging waste. It outlines the development of packaging policies, stemming from the need to halt the rapid growth of packaging waste and ensure recovery of packaging material for circular applications. It highlights the growth in total waste generated and inadequacy / inability of existing waste infrastructure to properly tackle the increasing proportions of packaging waste. packaging policy interventions to address this challenge. It explores the regulatory landscape in each of the ten Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries in light of the global policies and the efforts to address the issue of packaging waste. It advocates that packaging policies are required to address the intersecting challenges of increasing packaging waste - plastics packaging waste in particular – and the limitations of existing municipal waste management infrastructures.