As ocean temperatures rise with global warming, tropical cyclones are hitting Asian nations like Japan and the Philippines like never before. So to end this season..we wanted to talk about climate change. We start with a story about a zero waste village created from the devastation of Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines. Then we weave together experts from earlier episodes to find out: What is link between disposable plastic waste and climate change? This new 5-episode season is based on The Asia Plastic Atlas from the Heinrich Boell Foundation with support from Break Free From Plastic Asia Pacific.

In this episode… we’ll traverse from Hong Kong to South Korea and onto Pune, India. We start with Hong Kong, where Sustainable Asia is based, because no new legislation on plastic waste has been introduced for over a decade. Then we peak through the curtain of the COVID pandemic to see how South Korea is reacting to their recent surge in plastic waste. Finally we turn to Pune, India where under appreciated workers form the backbone of their unregulated recycling systems. This new 5-episode season is based on The Asia Plastic Atlas from the Heinrich Boell Foundation with support from Break Free From Plastic Asia Pacific.

Sparked by the zero waste movement, Asian countries are focusing on reducing..rather than recycling... plastic waste. We start our story on the wealthy island nation of Japan…where the rural village of Kamikatsu…can no longer afford the cost of incinerating disposable plastic and other types of waste. But the question remains, can poorer southeast asia neighbours also apply these zero waste principles to solve their plastic waste dilemma? This new 5-episode season is based on The Asia Plastic Atlas from the Heinrich Boell Foundation with support from Break Free From Plastic Asia Pacific.

We first travel to a waste bank on the island of Lembeh, Indonesia to see how recycling works (or doesn’t work) in small villages. Then we take a look at PET plastic recycling in Asian urban centres...it’s feasible…but if local governments here shoulder the burden of collecting and sorting the plastic waste...is that really making the polluters pay? This new 5-episode season is based on The Asia Plastic Atlas from the Heinrich Boell Foundation with support from Break Free From Plastic Asia Pacific.

We start with Melati Wijsen’s story….a young Indonesian civic advocate who went on a hunger strike in an effort to ban plastic bags on Bali. With waste collection rates hovering around 44%, are Asian countries really to blame for the pollution crisis brought by disposable plastic packaging? This new 5-episode season is based on The Asia Plastic Atlas from the Heinrich Boell Foundation with support from Break Free From Plastic Asia Pacific.

The plastic waste crisis in Asia is real...and it doesn’t seem to be getting better.... It’s clear that we need a new approach to reducing disposable plastic waste and its impact on the communities of Asia. This new 5-episode season is based on The Asia Plastic Atlas from the Heinrich Boell Foundation with support from Break Free From Plastic Asia Pacific.

In this episode we talk with culture creator and social marketer Emma Riley, Strategic Partnership Director for Lonely Whale - the organization that helped put the plastic pollution issue on the mainstream map in a big way with their #stopsucking campaign in 2017.

The story of Berkeley's groundbreaking disposable foodware ordinance, w/ Martin Bourque, Berkeley Ecology Center & Miriam Gordon, UPSTREAM