What was Rethinking Plastics?
A takeaway box in Phuket and a fishing net in Hainan posed two different problems: how to avoid disposable packaging in the first place, and what to do with litter already at sea. From 2019 to 2022, Rethinking Plastics worked with partners in East and Southeast Asia on both.
The European Union and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) co-funded the project. GIZ and Expertise France implemented it with local partners. China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam hosted pilots. Japan and Singapore took part in exchanges on topics including how public authorities can use their purchasing decisions to reduce waste.
Some partners tested ways to reuse containers; others worked on collecting and sorting packaging after use. The project also explored extended producer responsibility: making producers responsible for what happens to the packaging they put on the market. The original project overview describes the work across all seven countries.
What did local partners try?
Phuket, Thailand · A different takeaway box
In September 2021, the Phuket Environmental Foundation launched Take Pinto with 15 restaurants. It gave a familiar Thai object a new role in food delivery: a reusable stack of food boxes could carry a meal in place of disposable packaging. The launch was part of a wider island initiative involving local authorities, schools and hotels.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam · Sorting packaging where it is discarded
A packaging collection pilot worked with households, schools, offices and supermarkets. The practical question was how to get discarded packaging from those places into collection and recycling. Separating it where people live, study and shop was a starting point.
Hainan, China · Bringing litter back to shore
The Fishing for Litter pilot tackled a different point in the journey. When fishers pulled rubbish aboard with their catch, they could bring it back to port. That made reception on land as much a part of the trial as collection at sea.
What did the project record?
In its retrospective on marine litter (PDF, p. 75), GIZ reports that more than 150 fishing boats took part in fishing-for-litter activities. Across those activities and educational beach cleanups, participants collected over 23 tonnes of plastic. That figure measures material collected; it does not measure how much plastic the packaging pilots prevented from reaching the sea.
Original reports and practical guides
- Project publications — policy papers, packaging studies and guidance, including a Thai-language guide for restaurants and cafés.
- Pilot project directory — browse case studies by country or by topic, from fishing gear to food packaging.
- Expertise France project record — project status, partners and the scope of the cooperation.
- EU Delegation to Thailand: pilot launch, March 2021 — the original announcement for Phuket, Rayong and Trang.