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Circular Economy
Introduction
Southeast Asia is growing fast. As people buy more products, live longer lives, and move into cities, the region’s demand for materials food, plastics, minerals, textiles, and energy is rapidly rising. At the same time, the world is facing rising waste levels, resource scarcity, and climate change. Traditional approaches to consumption and production are no longer enough.
That’s where the circular economy comes in. It offers a new way forward one that reduces waste, keeps materials in use, and protects ecosystems. Rather than the old “take-make-dispose†system, the circular model is about using things wisely, designing out waste, and regenerating nature.
In ASEAN, the circular economy is not just a nice idea it is essential. It can help manage waste, reduce dependency on imports, create jobs, and support environmental goals. This section explores what the circular economy means for ASEAN, how the region is moving toward it, and what governments, businesses, and communities can do to accelerate the shift.
What Is a Circular Economy?
In a circular economy, resources are kept in use for as long as possible. Products are designed to last, to be reused, repaired, and eventually recycled. Organic materials like food and garden waste are composted and returned to the soil. Waste becomes a resource not a problem. This approach contrasts with the linear economy, where products are used once and thrown away. That system creates pressure on landfills, pollutes nature, and wastes valuable resources.
Circular practices can include many things using refillable containers, repairing electronics, designing packaging for recycling, turning food waste into compost, or creating new products from old materials. These practices can be found across ASEAN, sometimes formally through policy, sometimes informally through tradition or community innovation.
Why Circular Economy Matters
With growing populations and economies, ASEAN countries face rising waste volumes and resource use. At the same time, many nations depend on imported raw materials and struggle with the environmental impact of landfilling, burning, or dumping waste. The circular economy offers a way to reduce pressure on the environment while opening up new economic opportunities.
Circularity can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, decrease the use of virgin materials, support low-carbon industries, and make local economies more resilient. For example, applying circular economy principles and strategies to transform the way in which goods and materials are produced and used in the economy would offer significant potential to reduce GHG emissions. These can be summarised as follows:
Source:Ellen MacArthur Foundation
In addition to environmental benefits, the circular economy can create green jobs in sectors like recycling, repair, sustainable farming, and eco-design.
Objectives
Over the next 10 years, the main objectives of the AWGCW Action Plan are:
To further strengthen regional coordination and cooperation in addressing wastes and chemicals- related issues including controlling transboundary movement of hazardous waste under relevant multilateral environmental agreements, such as Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm, and Minamata conventions, and Montreal Protocol as well as internationally agreed-upon systems such as the Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).
To achieve the environmentally sound management of hazardous chemicals and wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks.
To reduce the growing threats of hazardous chemicals and wastes to human health and environment through, among others, enhancing the regional cooperation in preventing the illegal traffic of transboundary movement of hazardous chemicals and waste, and capacity building related to good management practice in handling hazardous chemicals and wastes.
ASEAN Action and Collaboration
ASEAN has recognized potential of Circular Economy to support sustainable development, innovation, and economic resilience and made it a regional priority. The ASEAN Circular Economy Framework, endorsed in October 2021, offers a shared vision and guiding principles to support the region’s transition toward circularity. It encourages Member States to develop national roadmaps, set measurable targets, integrate circular thinking into public procurement, and foster innovation through partnerships with the private sector and civil society. The framework also supports regional cooperation in trade, investment, and capacity building to enable scalable circular business models. ASEAN Circular Economy Framework (2021)
To complement these efforts, the ASEAN Blue Economy Framework, adopted in 2023, emphasizes the sustainable use of ocean resources and marine ecosystems, aligning circular economy practices with the protection of coastal and marine environments.
In addition, the ASEAN Declaration on Promoting a Circular Economy for Plastics, also known as the ASEAN Declaration on Circularity for Plastics, was adopted at the 38th and 39th ASEAN Summits in October 2021, affirming Member States’ commitment to reduce plastic pollution through circular solutions and cross-sectoral collaboration.
The ASEAN Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ACESP) acts as a hub for knowledge sharing, policy dialogue, and innovation. It helps link policymakers with businesses and experts who are pioneering circular solutions in the region.
Support from International Partners
International partners have been increasingly involved in supporting ASEAN’s transition to a circular economy, particularly in the implementation of regional frameworks such as the ASEAN Circular Economy Framework. This support has come in many forms, including technical cooperation projects, policy dialogues, webinars, capacity-building programs, and regional knowledge exchanges creating space for innovation, collaboration, and shared learning across sectors and Member States.
One key example is the technical cooperation provided by GIZ, which has supported both policy development and community-based initiatives. Through projects such as AMUSE (ASEAN Municipal Solid Waste Management Enhancement) and 3RproMar (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle to Protect the Marine Environment and Coral Reefs), GIZ has worked with cities and communities to promote organic waste composting, support waste segregation and recycling systems, engage informal waste workers, and pilot circular business models in ASEAN countries. These initiatives also contribute to regional learning through dialogue and exchange.
Action plan
