A Social and Environmental solution

newton cradle with environmental friendly images

SOCIAL

Low-income communities are at the forefront of mismanaged plastic with waste management in the global south dominated by informal collectors. Despite their significance for the environment and the economy, informal waste collectors often face marginalization and are subjected to exploitation and price fluctuations which threaten their income. TONTOTON’s purchasing model allows for a reliable and consistent trading price per kilo for all types of plastic waste, establishing a novel market for low-value post-consumer materials which are not subject to market instability.
, A Social and Environmental solution
450 WASTE COLLECTORS

Providing stable income to chronically underemployed social groups in Cambodia and Vietnam.

57% WOMEN

Empowering females to take ownership of their income.
Sunset Hon Son Island - TONTOTON

50% RECEIVE MORE INCOME

Half of collectors monthly salaries has increased compared to previous employment, providing more stable lives

80% HOUSEHOLD PARTNERS

changed their methods of disposal and stopped burning/dumping plastic waste and reported they felt a personal responsibility for the plastic waste and actively tried to reduce their consumption

Although clean-up activities offer mitigation, as well as providing a tool for awareness, they are not an effective strategy for alleviating the plastic leakage problem. TONTOTON’s solution aims to both prevent plastic entering the environment through source-reduction as well as removing coastal deposition. Sorting of waste at a household level is an effective technique for reducing leakage.

Together with PET bottles and Styrofoam, we identified that the majority of mismanaged waste is associated with households due to ineffective solid waste management systems. TONTOTON’s household partner project stops this leakage at the source as well as encourages reduced consumption of these materials. Key villages in Vietnam and Cambodia are lacking any formal waste management at all, so without this solution the plastic would be discarded into the environment or burnt outside the houses.

200

household partners in Cambodia

2500

household partners in Vietnam

, A Social and Environmental solution
OBP Beach Hon Son Island - TONTOTON

ENVIRONMENTAL

Photo 1-15-20, 17 27 28

Little girl running on a beach of
Hon Son Island, January 2020

Hon Son Island, January 2020

Photo 1-15-20, 16 00 49

Waste Manager of Hon Son Island.
discussing with TONTOTON Team.

ENVIRONMENTAL

waste management approach

The co-processing of waste has been recognized as a recovery operation under EU legislation

INNOVATIVE WASTE TREATMENT

  • Conservation of non-renewable fossil fuels ​& natural resources:
    → Thanks to the use of plastic waste as an alternative fuel,​ there is no extraction of fossil fuels, limestone, or any other minerals.
    ​I.C.16 Basel Convention Technical Guidelines p.10

  • Reduction of CO2 emissions​:
    → Integrating cement kiln co-processing within an overall waste management strategy may offer the potential ​to reduce net global CO2 emissions relative ​
    to a scenario where waste is combusted ​in an incinerator without energy recovery. ​
    I.C.22 Basel Convention Technical Guidelines p.10​

    This solution enables the avoidance of open-air plastic burn and provides a greener solution for the cement industry.
19

Plastic waste in the pre-processing
phase, prepared for shredding

INSEE Cement Plant, Hon Chong Vietnam

Co-processing

Waste burned to be used as Alternative Fuel
& Raw Materials (ashes reused in cement).

TONTOTON’s Material Recovery Facility (MRF), situated in the heart of the polluted coastal city of Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The first of its kind in the country – plastic is either upcycled, recycled or utilised as an alternative energy source for a fully circular solution. TONTOTON’s collectors remove all mismanaged plastic from the environment, leaving nothing behind. Waste is brought the MRF for segregation into different sorting lines where HDPE, LDPE, PP and PE in good condition are reformed into new products through heat-processing techniques, PET is directed to a bottle-to-bottle factory, and degraded plastic is sent for co-processing.

The aim of upcycling the non-recyclable plastic is to support TONTOTON collectors by providing housing materials such as new durable, UV resistant roofs and walls. We will also create full traditional houses using low-value material for community development programs. Transforming polluted villages and supporting the people most affected by the plastic, now in a positive way.

, A Social and Environmental solution

NOTHING
LEFT
BEHIND

All plastic waste is removed from the environment, sorted, and treated.

, A Social and Environmental solution

FULLY
CIRCULAR
SOLUTION

All plastic waste is utilised for next life solutions, avoiding landfill.