As Southeast Asia’s packaging waste volumes continue to rise—driven by rapid urbanization, growing consumption, and limited recycling infrastructure, policymakers and industry leaders are intensifying efforts to develop systems that can shift the region toward a functional circular economy.
The US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) is positioning Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as a central mechanism, but acknowledges that ASEAN’s structural and institutional constraints require a highly tailored, investment-friendly approach.
A core challenge remains the region’s dependency on an extensive informal waste sector, which handles a significant share of material collection and sorting. Integrating this workforce into formal EPR frameworks requires not only infrastructure and traceability systems, but clear labor safeguards and financial incentives, issues that several Southeast Asian governments have yet to standardize. The region’s limited baseline data on waste flows further complicates policy design. Without reliable material volumes or performance indicators, setting targets or measuring EPR outcomes remains difficult, and investors hesitate to commit capital in the absence of predictability.
According to Nugraheni Utami, USABC’s Chief Country Representative for Indonesia, “clear, predictable, government-mandated and industry-run EPR frameworks” are essential for attracting investment and ensuring accountability. She argues that regional alignment on core principles would allow multinational companies to operate under consistent rules, reducing compliance fragmentation while also scaling infrastructure capable of handling multi-material packaging streams. This alignment is increasingly vital as ASEAN nations move beyond the linear “take-make-dispose” model, seeking to prevent recyclable materials from leaking out of the loop.
Malaysia’s forthcoming EPR policy is emerging as an early test of this approach. Tina Jamaluddin, USABC’s Chief Country Representative for Malaysia, notes that the country has an opportunity to build a “practical, multi-material system” capable of delivering real environmental outcomes while preserving investment certainty. Harmonizing EPR principles across markets—while allowing national flexibility—could reduce operational friction for global brands and help ensure a consistent supply of recycled feedstock.
The private sector is signaling readiness to engage. Coca-Cola’s regional sustainability leadership emphasizes that improving waste management and recycling infrastructure requires coordinated action, given the operational complexities across Southeast Asia’s diverse markets. The company and its bottling partners collaborate with governments, recyclers, and NGOs to support EPR development in Malaysia and Indonesia and to advocate for Deposit Return Systems in Singapore. These efforts reflect a broader industry trend toward strengthening collection systems to secure reliable supplies of high-quality recycled material.
Local partners play a critical role in building this ecosystem. Organizations such as Mahija Foundation in Indonesia and facilities like Hiroyuki Industries in Malaysia or Amandina Bumi Nusantara provide technical capability, traceability, and on-the-ground engagement necessary for durable EPR systems. Mahija’s Responsible Sourcing Initiative, for example, embeds labor protections and human rights standards directly into supply chains to ensure that the shift from informal to formal waste management models upholds social responsibility. This alignment between environmental and social safeguards is becoming increasingly important as global brands seek verified, ethically sourced recycled materials.
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