Regional knowledge sharing and identification of opportunities forenhanced reduction of Marine Plastics Debris
23 August 2023, Lao PDR

Progress on Marine Plastic Pollution in Lao PDR

Mr. Somvang Bouttavong, Director of Water Utilization Management Division,
Department of Water Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE)

ContentnCountry Overview
nLaos National Report on plastic pollution andmarine plastic pollutionn Plastic waste management in Laos: Technicaland Political aspects, current regulations/laws onplastic waste management1Laos National Report on plastic pollution and marine plasticpollution

nCountry overview
Lao Peopleʼs Democratic Republic (Lao PDR)§Land linked Country in South-East Asia,Lower Mekong Region.
§Total area: 236,8000 km2§Population 7.123.000 people (SOERReport 2021)§Capital: Vientiane§Mekong River: joined by 14 major
tributaries during the course of itʼs 1993
km journey over Laos
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Laos National Report on plastic pollution and marine plasticpollutionn The results of the study from the target cities are as follows:
u77 registered plastic waste production facilities, with a production capacity of 51,000 tons peryear;

uHot spots or places of consumption that generate plastic waste near waterways: restaurants,bars, hotels, parks, markets,u

Hotspots or places of concern for plastic waste management: landfills, illegal dumping, landfills
and waste transfer stations.

An overview of the number of hotspots from plastic consumption per 100,000 people

From the data in the table,
it shows that cities that aretourist destinations havemore plastic waste
production than other bigcities.

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Laos National Report on plastic pollution and marine plasticpollution
Waste Import/Export20152016

2017

2018

2019

SourceImport of plastic waste

1,2561,181

3,909

7,881

98,533

UN Comtrade

Export of plastic waste

862

1,919

1,353

822

1,833

Import of secondary
plastic

5,092(452)452(1,064)

1,064
(144)

143(1,543)

1,543
(221)

Export of secondary
plastic

4,537
(657)

657
(4,585)

4,585(1,557)

1,557(4,903)

4,903
(938)

Tax department,
MOF(Department ofImport/Export,MOIC)

Information on the import and export of plastic waste and secondary materials
Exponential increase of import of plastic waste

4Laos National Report on plastic pollution and marine plastic
pollutionn Total of 60,053 tons of plastic generated in the target cities in 2020, only 6.48% is recycled
n 27.55% of plastic waste is landfilled
n 65.83% of plastic waste is uncollected: littered or burntn 10.17% of plastic waste enters waterways: canals, streams, rivers, etc.

5Plastic waste management in Laos: Technical and Political aspects,
current regulations/ laws on plastic waste managementn Lao PDR does not have a strategy or specific legislation or regulation in the management of plastic
waste, the existing legislation is still general and not specific; The roles and responsibilities ofvarious parties are still unclear and overlap;
n The waste collection service is under-funded, inefficient and limited some towns and cities, nonstandard waste treatment and the plastic waste management work is still limited in many aspects;
n No formal government-organized recycling program exists in the Lao PDR but there is an active
recycling industry in some of the cities.
n While organic waste makes up approximately half of waste generated, there is no large-scale,centralized composting of municipal solid waste.

6Laos National Report on plastic pollution and marine plastic
pollutionn Plastic waste management challenges in Lao PDR:u

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) management is using only “collecting and disposing” methoduLack of waste sorting from the sourceu

Policy supporting the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) is still not widely disseminatedu

Waste collection service is low and some area to not have access to this service.

u

Plastic waste is littered along riverbanks and road or burntu

No waste separation, lack of equipment, lack of appropriate personnel for waste management and waste
collection servicesu

No standard of waste landfilluDiscontinuing awareness raising and public participation was not enoughu

Inadequate legislation and law enforcement, including monitoringu

Encouragement investment of private sector in waste disposal and management need to be done more for
an effective way

uEtc.

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Ways forwards for waste management
oDevelopment of pollution control strategy
oDecree on waste disposal and management
oNational action plan on plastic waste management, including
specific regulation: under process
oPublic awareness raising using 3Rs via a pilot project
oEtc.

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Thank you very much

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