Locations
Ending the Plastic Pollution Innovation Challenge (EPPIC)
Background
If current trends continue, it is estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean. Still, worldwide plastic consumption is expected to quadruple during this time. Besides, plastics have become the fastest-growing source of industrial greenhouse gas emissions. Plastic pollution has numerous adverse economic, social, and environmental impacts. Marine plastic pollution costs up to $2.5 billion annually in lost marine ecosystem services. Tackling plastic pollution will require multi-stakeholder collaboration and engagement.
The Ending Plastic Pollution Innovation Challenge (EPPIC) is an ASEAN-wide competition aiming to beat plastic pollution in coastal cities of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Lao DPR, and Cambodia.
Project Summary
In the context of the growing plastic pollution globally and in Cambodia’s coastal areas, the project led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, brings together citizens, local governments, and the private sector to identify pressing issues and collaborate in finding innovative solutions and helping them to grow and scale up.
Objectives
The objective of this project is to contribute to the reduction of plastic pollution in coastal areas in four ASEAN target countries, contributing to the achievement of SDG 14: Life Below Water and SDG 12: Responsible Production and Consumption. EPPIC is a competition that will source innovative ideas from ASEAN countries for tackling local plastic challenges to contribute to widespread system-level change across the entire region.
Through the innovation challenges, the project aims to provide:
- Incubation support to teams with solutions to address plastic pollution in coastal areas of Cambodia.
- Organize a pitching session to select two most innovative and feasible solutions and award them with an innovation grant.
- Provide acceleration through mentorship, funding and visibility opportunities.
Achievements
8 innovative startup ventures were competitively selected for the 3-month incubation program. These innovative businesses ranged from advancing upcycling/recycling, alternative plastic solutions, and technology-driven pollution management. Through the incubation program, the teams deepened their understanding of local and regional plastic pollution issues and strengthened their business skills. Finally, two teams – Tontoton and WeLab were selected at a public pitch event for the 9-month accelerator phase — each receiving $18,000 in funding, masterclasses, and ongoing mentorship.
With support from Impact Hub Phnom Penh, the two awardees have leaps forward in their business development, and the support from EPPIC — both the grant funds and the technical support in the form of mentorship, introductions, and visibility — were transformative to the ventures in this journey. Below are a few highlights:
TONTOTON
New palletizing system: The most significant achievement for TONTOTON was the purchase of a new palletizing system, which was made possible by the EPPIC grant. This was a long-awaited investment in machinery for the company that has now opened new impact and sales opportunities. The company is now able to process PP (Polypropylene) food packaging, as well as LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene) and HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene) plastic bags and films. The new system also expands the quantity of plastic the company can process. The machine had delays in delivery and installation due to mechanical and electrical issues, so TONTOTON has unfortunately been delayed in meeting some of the milestones associated with processing due to this.
Plastic collection: Between 1 January and 30 June 2024, TONTOTON collected 60,908kg of hard-to-recycle and non-recyclable plastics. 92% of the collected plastic was allocated for co-processing compared to 95% before the EPPIC accelerator began. This means that a greater proportion of plastic is now allocated for upcycling — one of TONTOTON’s major goals with the new processing system. Once the system is fully operational, TONTOTON expects to allocate only 70% to co-processing.
Expansion of collectors: To meet the expanded demand now made possible with the new processing capabilities, TONTOTON increased their collection rate to 59 new local households. This is helping cut plastic leakage at the source and providing income generation for additional households.
Expansion of product line and sales channels: TONTOTON expanded its product development, now able to produce tables, chairs, coasters, planters, keychains, picture frames, and more. They have begun sales of these “impact products” at local businesses in Cambodia and established a point of sale at the Phnom Penh International Airport Duty Free store.
Launch of visitor center: TONTOTON launched their visitor center in Sihanoukville in December 2023, around the time they were selected for the accelerator.
…and many more
WELab
Plastic pollution analysis: WELab conducted macroplastics and microplastics analysis and wastewater quality analysis at a wastewater canal in Sihanoukville to understand the composition of water in the canal on a variety of parameters, which helped them optimize their MVP accordingly.
Development and Testing of Solar-Powered Air Bubble Screening Device: When WELab was selected for the accelerator, they only had a basic prototype. Through the accelerator programme, they successfully designed and tested multiple iterations of their solar-powered air bubble screening device capable of capturing both macro- and microplastics from wastewater discharge canals in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. They conducted three field testing sessions that included macroplastic and microplastic analysis to understand the device’s effectiveness. They developed a device with combination of both physical and bubble screening given the need for the device to stop macroplastics as well. The team tested multiple types of materials, engineering specifications, and attachments (waste carrier/cage, crane).
Planning for scalability and adaptability: As WELab underwent intensive mentoring regarding the commercialization potential of the device, they incorporated this mindset into the device development, adjusting the device to be more user-friendly and modular — more adaptable to various locations and conditions.
Business strengthening: Through the accelerator, WELab developed many fundamental components of their commercialization strategy, including defining a partnership with Young Eco as a commercialization partner (so, moving forward, WELab can specialize in R&D); developing a pricing structure; identifying production and maintenance plans and constraints; and defining a list of potential partners/customers as part of a scaling strategy.
Community Engagement and Awareness: As part of the project’s mission to raise awareness about plastic pollution, WELab held workshops (including knowledge and attitude assessments regarding waste management) with local high school students in Sihanoukville.
Public launch of the device: WELab held a public launch event in late July 2024 with key stakeholders, including government officials from Sihanoukville that they met during the EPPIC accelerator field visit. The launch event was one of their recent outreach activities to raise awareness about their device. They also partnered with ThinkPlastic to produce a short video about their device, which received 570,000+ views on Facebook alone. The video was also shared by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport and WELab was featured
by local news outlets.New brand identity and focus on marketing: As one of their milestones through the accelerator, WELab rebranded, developing a new logo, brand identity, and communications strategy. They also solidified the role of one of their key team members to focus more intensively on communications and outreach.
