Transcript 0:01 There's so much we can do. We don't recognize the inequities that are involved, but we can tap into doing things better, develop a solution. 0:12 We have a huge opportunity to develop the right solutions to tap into the technology here to solve our plastics problem. It's a huge dilemma. It's not a problem for the next generation. 0:26 It's a problem for the generations of today. 0:31 [on-hold music] Welcome to The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation with your host, Peggy Smedley. 0:48 Hello, listeners, and welcome to today's edition of The Peggy Smedley Show. I'm your host, Peggy Smedley. It's time to have a real conversation about eliminating waste. 0:59 Plastic flows into the ocean are expected to triple by twenty forty. But if we take immediate action, we could stem the tide by more than eighty percent. So I'm gonna share, share with you two examples just today. 1:14 One comes from Indonesia, and one comes from Ghana. Each recognized a regional problem and are taking some really big steps to reduce plastic and waste in their area. 1:28 On the first segment, I'm going to kind of talk about how we can make a difference in our own regions. As always, before I even get to that, I'm going to talk about our amazing guests. 1:38 At segment one, I'm going to be talking with Ola Benderus, associate professor at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. 1:46 It's a really good discussion we're going to have because I can't wait to talk about datasets. And then in segment three, I'm going to, uh, wrap up the show with, uh, Johnny, uh, Alzu, who's the CEO of Bittrap. 1:59 Now, we know there's a lot of things going on in security, and I can't wait to engage with him about how do we need to fend off the bad guys. So stick around for that. 2:08 So let's get started by talking about eliminating our waste. A new report from the Global Plastic Action Partnership shows how we can make a difference. 2:19 This organization was created by a coalition of public and private sector leaders to address the worldwide expulsion and plastic pollution. Now, here's what I like about its impact report. 2:35 It has a number of case studies about how to actually reduce waste. It has some really tangible ideas for steps we can do to make a difference, all of us. 2:47 Further, the GPAP goes into several different case studies by region. Now think about this. Some areas include what we're talking about today, Indonesia, Ghana, Vietnam, and Nigeria. 3:00 Think about what these countries are doing. But even before we get into the report, I want to shock you, and I am. I'm going to shock you with the numbers. Now, these are some crazy high numbers. 3:12 Did you know that every day eight million pieces of plastic makes their way into the oceans? Eight million. Gross, right? Just think about that. 3:22 Remember, knowledge is power, so this is why I'm going to shock you with these numbers. 3:27 The world produces, and this is what I'm reading right now, three hundred and eighty-one million tons of plastic waste every year, and it's only going to get worse, not better. 3:38 We want to talk about improving, but so far the numbers don't look like they're getting better. And only fifty percent of the single-use plastic, only nine percent is ever recycled. 3:49 Now, we always talk about we want to do things better, but guess what? We're still only nine percent is being recycled. Now, now let's look at some examples. First, let's talk about Indonesia. 4:00 With a large coastline and an abundance of biodiverse marine ecosystems, the country faces an escalating plastic pollution crisis. And this is what I thought so interesting because they're facing it head-on. 4:14 Plastics plays a key role in the national economy, so it generates around six point eight million tons of plastic waste per year, and it's rising. Now think about this. 4:24 Without urgent action, the flow of plastic waste into the country's water bodies is projected to increase by thirty percent between what we've said in twenty seventeen and all the way through twenty twenty-five to seven hundred and eighty thousand tons per year. 4:42 Oh my goodness, yikes. When I think about this, this is crazy. Indonesia has committed to reducing marine plastic waste by seventy percent by twenty twenty-five. Now, let's look a little closer at how. 4:57 In twenty twenty, Indonesia launched a multi-stakeholder action place, and what they were doing is they now, all the people have a baseline that specifically uses Indonesia's data. Now I, I always talk about it. 5:12 What do I say? It's all we have to do. It's data, data, data. You got to look at the numbers. In collaboration with the Incubation Network and the Ocean Plastic Prevention Accelerator, here's what they're doing. 5:25 Indonesia has also launched an innovation challenge to solve some of these critical issues. The problem is simply this: while informal waste collectors are essential, they are often poorly rewarded and rarely recognized. 5:43 Now, how often do we see that in our own country? In Indonesia, it is critical to improve these livelihoods and meet the goal of doubling Indonesia's waste collection and recycling capacity. 5:54 So the objective with the innovation challenge was to call for ideas and to improve the integration of the informal sector in Indonesia's waste management economy. Now I love this. Creativity here, right? 6:07 Twelve innovators were selected to receive and support, refine their solutions. So this will help to create roadmaps for innovation in the region.This is where the best comes out. 6:20 Now let's turn our attention to what's happening in Ghana for a couple of minutes, because this is where it just keeps getting better. 6:27 Ghana's economic growth has coincided with an increase in the consumption of plastic products, especially single-use plastics, and we know how much that happens around the world. 6:38 Now, it's estimated that Ghana produces.84 million tons of post-consumer plastic waste each year. So this is a figure that's grown more than about 5% annually. So it's kind of interesting when you look at the numbers. 6:52 So this is driven by both an expanding population and an increase in plastic consumption. So the primary source, if we think about this, of plastic waste is municipal solid waste. 7:05 So in order to help it kind of, uh, bring together stakeholders to kind of vet ideas and provide opinions on reducing plastic waste and pollution, they really wanted to take a deeper look at things. 7:17 So this will empower partners to make informed decisions. So this is something I talked a lot about in the... you know, on the show last month, about how do you gotta work together. 7:28 So we need to meet communities actually where they are, and this is what I like about this, this case study, this... what they're doing in Ghana, because they're building relationships with them, and that takes time. 7:40 It just doesn't happen overnight. And one way that Ghana has done this is by prioritizing gender equality throughout its network. How cool is that, right? 7:49 I just dig this because it's focusing on how gender equality can transform the plastics value chain. 7:58 I love the way they really are thinking about this, and Ghana has invested gender roles across the plastic and waste management value chains. Now, here's what it found. 8:08 Only 7% of the women working in the plastic sector in Ghana are in decision-making positions. That's pathetic, but I love that they're thinking about women. 8:18 So what's more, 74% of women occupy low-level roles like waste picking, washing, sorting, and more. So the report also represents ru- and presents recommendations. 8:32 So Ghana has also drafted an action roadmap identifying key accelerators and intervention areas for achieving zero plastic leakage by 2040. There's a roadmap here. 8:46 This is so important because the roadmap includes contributions and validation from more than 100 key local actors and experts who know what they're doing. 8:57 So a- as I mentioned, there are other great case studies in Vietnam and Nigeria, but here's where we learn. We learn from each other. We learn from accelerating the idea of what the action plans take. 9:11 So go check out the Global Plastics Action Partnership Impact Report, it's a mouthful, to see what else is happening around the globe. 9:20 There's really creative ideas, and we can learn from each other and figure out how to improve our world. 9:26 So I wanna kinda talk a little bit about, here's my opinion on this for today, because I think it's important that we share ideas and we learn from each other, but if we're going to solve our plastics waste problem, 9:39 we need to get creative. We need to redesign packaging and delivery models, and we nu- we need kinda re, uh, designing and recycling and new ideas of recycling technologies that are really doing something different. 9:57 And we need to develop partnerships to bring this innovation to market. All of those collaborative ideas and collaboration are essential to make it all happen, 'cause it's not gonna happen overnight. 10:11 It takes a lot of time, and it takes a lot of effort, and we need to do it in our homes and in our cities and all the communities together. And we can't wait. We can't say we'll get to it later. 10:23 We've gotta do it now, and we need to work in tandem with each other, because if we're not thinking about it now, it's gonna be too late. 10:31 And more plastics flowing into our oceans is killing the best fishes, our, our marine life, and that's the problem. And we're gonna say, "Why didn't we?" So do some research to really understand what's happening. 10:46 So here's my tip. When we think about researching on what's happening in our region, in your region, you'll discover just how severe some of this is. 10:56 You'll recognize that it's much more significant than you ever thought it was. Uncover the challenges that exist in your specific region, in your community, in your town, in your country. 11:10 Like and understand and, and like the opportunities, but also understand the lack of incentives for informal waste collectors in Indonesia. 11:21 You'll understand, like that's happening, you'll be able to see what you can do or how you can get more women involved in the plastics and waste management value chains, like in Ghana. I mean, there's so much we can do. 11:37 We don't recognize the inequities that are involved, but we can tap into doing things better. Develop a solution. That's what we need to do. 11:47 There's so much we don't recognize that's happening, but we can step up to the plate and do more than we're doing now and hit a home run right out of the ballpark. 11:57 We have a huge opportunity to develop the right solutions to tap into the technology here to solve our plastics problem. It's a huge dilemma. It's not a problem for the next generation. 12:10 It's a problem for the generations of today. But often, challenges are different regionally. That's why you have to look at your specific region. 12:20 We have to think locally and act globally.And if we are going to make a difference, we have to think about these things. We have to think about what we're going to do. We also have to act locally and think globally. 12:35 On a lot of these situations, we have to kind of flip it on its, the, that idea on its head and say, "How do we do things differently?" Because each one requires a different way of thinking. 12:46 As I've said it before, and I'll say it again, we need to take global action to be guided by local demands, and it's very important, and local thinking needs to inspire global policy through advocacy. 13:00 So what is happening in your specific area? How can you make a difference? How can you have an impact? Let's have a conversation about this and let's do action. 13:12 It's the only way we're going to stem the tide and stop plastic from flowing into the ocean. We can't afford to have it triple by 2040. And let me leave you with this. 13:26 The next time you feel you have to order something online, consider this: plastic packaging is the biggest culprit, resulting in some 80 million tons of waste yearly, and that's just from the US alone. 13:43 So what are you going to do about it? That's the question I have for you. What are you going to do to end and stem the tide of plastic from en-ending up in our ocean? We all play a part. 13:57 The question is, what's the role you're going to play in this ever-ending problem that we're facing? That's the question for all of you. 14:05 All right, well, I'm out of time and as always, I'm curious what you think because we all have thoughts on what we can do to contribute to help our environment, to help, you know, our ecosystem. 14:17 So I'd love for you to share your thoughts with me on Twitter at connectedwmag or post a thought with me on LinkedIn. I'm always engaging in conversations. 14:25 Together when we think things and we innovatively work and collaborate, that's when we make change. 14:31 All right, listeners, I want you to check out my website at connectedworld.com or the show website at thepeggySmedleyShow.com. 14:38 All right, we're gonna take a quick commercial break, so go get that quick cup of coffee, as I like to say, and come back. 14:44 As always, this is The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. And remember, with great technology comes great responsibility. We'll be right back. [outro music]
