Background
In February 2020, the President of Indonesia and Prime Minister of Australia formally committed to address marine plastics as a key bilateral issue through the creation of a Plastics Innovation Hub Indonesia (The Hub).
The Hub vision has become a reality, with the Plastics Innovation Hub Indonesia launching in March 2022. The Hub is curated by CSIRO with Indonesia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. The Hub welcomes engagement with Indonesian, Australian and international innovators, donors, businesses, investors and NGOs to address the issue of marine plastic.
Why is this initiative so important?
Marine plastic debris is a global challenge and a significant transboundary issue with key economic, security and environmental implications. Since Australia and Indonesia share a maritime border, working collaboratively to address plastic waste leakage into the marine environment is a key priority for both countries.
This is why the President of Indonesia and Prime Minister of Australia committed to address marine plastics as a key bilateral issue through the creation of a Plastics Innovation Hub.
The Indonesian government has set its own goal of reducing marine plastic debris by up to 70 per cent by 2025.
This aligns with the objectives of CSIRO’s Ending Plastic Waste Mission (EPW) in development, which is aiming for an 80 per cent reduction in plastic waste entering the environment by 2030.
Engaging internationally to address this challenge can also provide access to valuable research partnerships and support from governments, investors and development agencies seeking to advance solutions to this pressing global issue.
What is the Plastics Innovation Hub Indonesia?
The goal of the Hub is to harness the current ecosystem to augment innovation capacity, and co-create challenges ripe for impactful and scalable solutions.
The virtual Hub will enable the creation of a collaborative innovation ecosystem linking Australian, Indonesian and global partners. Harnessing diversity of thought and expertise to activate disruptive thinking.
The Hub focuses on design and delivery of deep-tech solutions in emerging or under-resourced domains. It will provide new pathways for world-leading research to scale and achieve systems-level impact in Indonesia. The Hub will initially target three challenge areas:
- sustainable alternatives that outperform existing plastics
- improving plastics and capturing value beyond first use
- empowering decision making through reliable and accessible information.
Participating in the Plastics Innovation Hub Indonesia is an opportunity to:
- build deep connections with key stakeholders, customers, and investors in a part of the world where your science can have a real impact
- access seed funding to scale your solution.
Expressions of interest are now open for the Incubation Program.
How are CSIRO involved?
We are a far-reaching resource with a strong network of global research partnerships to build industry links and share world-class science. We are delivering positive impact from science through global collaboration and partnerships. Partnering to combat plastic waste in Indonesia is in our shared interest.
Our EPW mission in development will play an important role in shaping the direction and outcomes of the Hub. Our expertise provides a broad range of scientific and technological solutions for the entire plastics supply chain to support government and industry initiatives, eliminate litter and divert plastic waste into a resource.
We have offered considerable funding and resourcing to the Hub and we support the program to deliver strategic, operational and management activities.
Spanning a range of scientific disciplines across the various stages of the innovation lifecycle, the Hub will assist us to apply research to inform policy, develop new industries and evolve existing sectors ensuring success into the future. This program is a prime example of our commitment of creating genuine impact globally.
To find out more about the Plastics Innovation Hub Indonesia and relevant upcoming events, visit Indonesia (ippin.org).