Trash Hero Indonesia | Trash Hero World

Beyond cleanups: Trash Hero in the community

by Lydia on 04/10/2024 No comments

Regular cleanups build trust and engagement within communities. Once trust has been established, volunteers can take our mission one step further through our Trash Hero Communities programme.

Trash Hero Communities aims to create consensus for zero waste systems and lifestyles that can address the plastics crisis. Events range from educational presentations to implementing reuse systems at events.

Below we showcase a few examples from our chapters around the world.

Trash Hero Tuaran, Malaysia

Trash Hero Tuaran has been actively involved in local schools for several years, giving presentations and helping them reduce plastic waste. Their efforts have led to a strong relationship with the school community, resulting in an invitation to participate in a two-day exhibition on the 11 and 12 September. Other attendees included the Department of Health and the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.

During the exhibition, the chapter leader Wallcon, promoted the Trash Hero mission, encouraged people to join cleanups and used our series of “Educate Yourself Zero Waste” posters to start important discussions with kids and teachers. Over 350 students attended and we hope to see them at future cleanups or joining our Trash Hero Kids programme.

Trash Hero Pattani, Thailand

Trash Hero Pattani has hosted a variety of community events, including a “Repair Cafe” held on 31 August. Expert volunteers offered their skills to repair items free of charge, all attendees had to pay for was the cost of any new parts needed. At the inaugural session, six people volunteered their fixing skills, giving new life to bikes, electronics and clothing. These events, which now have a regular spot on the calendar, help to reduce waste and encourage people to think differently about consumption.

Trash Hero Indonesia

The Climate Policy Unit of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) invited Trash Hero Indonesia to a focus group discussion on public awareness and understanding of climate change. The discussions were held in several major cities across Indonesia, as the organisation strived to understand the best action to take to mitigate climate change. Trash Hero attended the discussion in Sanur in August, alongside lecturers, other NGOs and students.

The opening question, “Do people understand climate change?” sparked a lively discussion among the 17 attendees. Trash Hero representatives challenged the view that everyone understands the causes of climate change. They highlighted the fact that the entire lifecycle of plastic contributes to climate change and this is not something that is widely recognised. This prompted discussion on the need to reduce plastic production by investing in reuse and refill initiatives.

Trash Hero Luzern, Switzerland

Festivals are filled with single-use plastic, especially cups. The fields are left covered with trash that takes hours or even days to clean up. In 2017, Trash Hero Luzern helped the Sunset Beatz festival, held in Baldeggersee Lake, realise things had to change! Together, they developed a deposit return system for drinks. Festival-goers deposit $2 for a reusable cup, which they get back when the cup is returned. The new system has been used every year since, preventing the use of over 100,000 single-use plastic cups, and saving the organisers and volunteers hours of cleanup time!

Trash Hero Nagekeo – Indonesia

Volunteers from Trash Hero Nagekeo collaborated with Soverdia Nagekeo to reduce single-use plastic at a conference in June: “Laudato si’ wajah bumi yang terluka”. Usually, such events rely heavily on single-use plastics, with water provided in single-use bottles or cups, lunch served in plastic boxes and many food items wrapped in plastic.

To reduce plastic usage, volunteers approached local businesses, requesting reusable cups, glasses, plates and cutlery for the 400 attendees over 3 days. Some businesses donated items, while others agreed to loan them. The plates and glasses may all be different colours and sizes, but it’s a beautiful representation of how, with the help of passionate and dedicated volunteers, a community can come together to reduce plastic.

These examples demonstrate the diverse ways in which Trash Hero Communities can start long-term change. By going beyond cleanups and fostering sustainable practices, we can create a cleaner and healthier future for everyone.

To learn more about our Trash Hero communities programmes click here. To find your nearest chapter and see if they can help your event go zero waste, click here.

Programmes Administrative Assistant – Remote working

by Seema on 08/08/2024 No comments

Trash Hero World is hiring! Please see below for job description. This position is 100% remote, and only open to Thai or Indonesian citizens resident in their country. We are unable to provide work permits or IMTAs.

This position offers flexible hours (min. 30 hours per week) and is available immediately. Applications will remain open until the position is filled.

Salary
– Based on location (local salary rates) and experience

About Trash Hero
Trash Hero World leads, supports and governs the global Trash Hero volunteer movement, which works for a clean world, free from plastic pollution.

The movement started with a beach cleanup project in Thailand in 2013 and has now grown to around 100 chapters (local groups) in communities in 13 different countries. A weekly cleanup is still the main focus, but volunteers also do other activities such as running a water bottle refill network, kids’ education and various forms of community outreach and zero waste advocacy.

Trash Hero World is registered as a non-profit association in Switzerland; registered Trash Hero country organisations also exist in the UK, Czech Republic, Serbia, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar. Our global coordination team consists of around 10 people, with both full-time staff and volunteers.

Work Culture
We have an open, friendly and supportive work culture, with staff and volunteers working together at all levels of the organisation. We live the values of our Trash Hero Family and we are all personally committed to a zero waste future.

Our team works remotely, across borders and cultures. We have no physical offices. Team members connect over chat and meet regularly online during the week, at times that accommodate our respective time zones.

Working hours are flexible and overtime and occasional weekend / out of hours work are considered part of the job. All working hours need to be documented.

Role description

This is a data support role inside the Programmes team. This means that you will be responsible for the collection, storage and management of all programme-related data and materials.

You will work with Trash Hero country coordinators and chapter leaders to ensure that data is collected regularly, efficiently and accurately.

And you will support the Programmes team with reliable data that allows us to make informed decisions and communicate our activities and results to volunteers, funders, partners and the general public.

Having access to quality data is essential both to the efficient running of our organisation and to demonstrating our impact.

Key Duties & Responsibilities

Checking and management of data relating to:
- Cleanups, including waste and brand audits
- Bottle refill points & refill point map
- Trash Hero Kids programme
- Trash Hero Communities programme
- Any other Trash Hero activities or events (e.g. Family Meetings)
- Accounting for country organisations and events (in coordination with country coordinators and chapter leaders)
Administration associated with the creation of new Trash Hero chapters
Maintenance of chapter map and chapter minisites
Updating website resource library with new materials
Updating photo library with new pictures
Creation and maintenance of volunteer contact lists
Creation and maintenance of programme materials list
Collating social media and website analytics for monthly review
Assisting with the production of monthly, quarterly, yearly and ad hoc data reporting as required
Updating and maintenance of team filing systems
Identifying new or improved ways of data collection and reporting, file organisation etc.
Undertaking training and development and other activities to support the Programmes team as required

Experience & Skills
Essential

Upper intermediate level of English (B2) both written and spoken; other languages an advantage
High level of accuracy, efficiency and organisation
A proven background in administration
Data entry and record management experience
A good level of numeracy
Clearly presented work
Able to organise and prioritise work methodically and independently
Good knowledge of Excel (formulas), Word (and Google equivalents)
Comfortable with cross-cultural communication
Comfortable with working on your own

Desirable

Knowledge of Mailchimp, Salesforce and database software
Willingness to try different projects alongside day to day work when required
Experience of working in a non-profit environment
Understanding of issues surrounding plastic pollution, zero waste and circular economy
Familiarity with Southeast Asian culture

Applications & recruitment timeline
STEP ONE: Applications should be made by email to info @ trashhero.org and include:

your CV with 2 references
a cover letter
a short (< 2 minutes) video introducing yourself and explaining why you want to work for Trash Hero (simple recording with phone, no editing needed)

Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

STEP TWO: Successful candidates will be contacted for an initial online interview.

STEP THREE: The second round will involve a period of (part-time) volunteering. Trash Hero is an organisation that depends entirely on volunteers, so this is a great opportunity to understand that dynamic, as well as allowing both sides to get to know each other before making a commitment. If all goes well, a formal job offer will follow.

The key to volunteer motivation: Trash Hero Family Meetings

by Lydia on 26/06/2024 No comments

What keeps Trash Hero volunteers organising regular cleanups year round? Perhaps the secret lies in our regular Trash Hero Family Meetings. Here, our chapter teams can network, share and better understand the “why” behind our actions. It’s an intense and often deep experience. As one volunteer from Thailand put it: “there is no other seminar as worthwhile to the soul and to the world“.

These meetings bring volunteers together for 3 days of:

knowledge building: workshops and presentations on the issues surrounding plastic pollution
skill strengthening: building capacity for community leadership
boosting motivation: creating positive energy and inspiration through sharing and connecting with others

This year’s Family Meetings, held in Indonesia and Thailand, centred around a fundamental question: why do we do cleanups?

The answer – which is not necessarily what people expect – shaped the rest of the content: to provide education about zero waste and build community engagement.

Workshops encouraged volunteers to think critically about waste. We explored the big picture, understanding that litter is just a symptom of a larger systemic problem.
Informative presentations shared new knowledge about the impact plastic has on the climate and our health.
Group sessions looked at building trust in communities, leadership skills and effective communication.
Games and quizzes helped keep everyone energised while also reinforcing the learning material.
A group cleanup showed the possibility for education, best practices and (in Indonesia) a brand audit.

The Indonesian gathering saw almost 60 participants travel from all corners of the country to Sanur, Bali from 31 May – 2 June.

In Thailand, the event took place from 7 – 9 June in Bangkok. It brought together participants from across Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar. Sessions took place in parallel in Thai and English, with volunteers happily mingling during the breaks and cleanup activity. As one volunteer from Malaysia said “language was no barrier at all when you feel and see the same things”

The sessions with guest speakers, leadership coaches Pak Made Pay (Indonesia) and Khun Amnat (Thailand), proved very popular, with their insights into team building and the qualities needed for effective leadership. Thank you to both for sharing their wisdom, which will no doubt have an impact on our chapter teams. We hope to provide similar training to all volunteers soon.

Following the meetings, we sent out a feedback survey to all participants and the response was overwhelmingly positive. 100% of volunteers who replied felt more knowledgeable about both zero waste and plastic pollution, and 96% felt their motivation increased. One volunteer from Thailand commented: “the event made me know more about plastic waste, from the source to the solutions, with activities that connect people from different regions.”

Trash Hero World fully supports the family meetings, covering the travel, food, accommodation costs for all participants. We also handle the logistics and content design, creation and delivery.

In July, volunteers from Trash Hero in Switzerland and Germany will hold a zero waste picnic to celebrate their hard work and support new chapter leaders. The shared experiences, the learning and the connections – these are the things that keep us all motivated in our mission to create a world free from plastic pollution.

Let’s keep the momentum going.

Trash Hero Indonesia Family Meeting 31 May – 2 June

Location: Sanur, Bali

Participants: 57

Chapters: 27

Trash Hero Family Meeting Thailand 7-9 June

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Participants: 40

Chapters: 22

Trash Hero Indonesia collaborates on first-ever sachet brand audit report

by Lydia on 02/05/2024 No comments

Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) released a first-of-its-kind report, and Trash Hero Indonesia co-produced it.

For the past six years, members of the BFFP movement have worked together, collecting information about who is responsible for the plastic pollution we find on our beaches, rivers, and towns. The annual brand audit report compiles global data and shines a light on the brands responsible for plastic pollution. This information can then be used to advocate for systemic change. In fact, when New York Attorney General James filed a lawsuit against PepsiCo for “polluting the environment and endangering public health through its single-use plastic bottles, caps and wrappers”, data from the brand audits was cited in the press release.

Previous brand audit reports have collected data on all types of plastic. However, sachet pollution has increased at alarming rates across Asia, leading many environmental groups to demand that companies phase out sachets. To better understand the scale and source of sachet pollution and to be able to push for real change, a group of BFFP NGOs from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines came together to take action.

A sachet is an environmental nightmare. Most of them have an airtight inner plastic layer that protects the product, a foil barrier against moisture and heat, and an outer flexible layer that can be printed on. An adhesive holds it all together. The multiple layers make it impossible to recycle effectively. Their light weight means they often end up in forests, rivers, and oceans. From here, animals mistake them for food and get sick or even die after consuming them. Discarded sachets also worsen flooding by clogging waterways and drains, leading to more water-borne diseases. For something that is used for seconds, they have a very long-lasting impact! This devastating impact has been widely recognised, with even former CEO of Unilever, Paul Polman, stating, “We need to get rid of sachets for good”. Yet their use worldwide continues. Our article “Exposing the hidden cost of sachets” dives into the environmental and social issues of sachets in more detail.

Collecting the data

Between October 2023 and February 2024, 807 volunteers organised brand audits in 50 locations across India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Together, these volunteers from 25 organisations collected a total of 33,467 sachets

Alongside colleagues from YPBB, Ecoton and Greenpeace, Trash Hero Indonesia adjusted the brand audit methodology to suit sachets. They then collected and collated the data from the sachet brand audits in Indonesia and helped develop and draft the report.

Trash Hero Indonesia trained volunteers in the new process and rallied Trash Hero volunteers across Indonesia to participate. Data from Indonesia made up 29% of the total data published in the report. 476 volunteers took part, counting 9,698 sachets across 34 locations. 1,212 brands were identified. The Trash Hero Indonesia team collected and verified the data from all participating organisations in Indonesia. We want to say a big thank you to the 456 Trash Hero volunteers from 23 chapters who conducted sachet brand audits!

What did the report find?

The report identified the top ten brands responsible for sachet pollution across Indonesia, India, Vietnam and the Philippines:

Unilever
Wings
Mayora Indah
Wadia Group
Balaji Wafers Private Limited
Procter & Gamble
Nestlé
Yes 2 Healthy Life
JG Summit Holdings
Salim Group

The audit identified 2,678 brands in four countries—India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam—highlighting the extensive use of this problematic single-use packaging format.

The report also revealed a concerning trend in sachet material composition. Over half (57%) of the collected samples were multilayer sachets, while only 41% were single-layer. This is important because multilayer construction, combining different materials, makes recycling these sachets virtually impossible.

Members of the BFFP movement attended the fourth round of official negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty and were able to present the report to country delegates.

What should corporations do?

Urgent action needs to be taken now to stop producing sachets. We, along with other members of the Break Free From Plastic movement, call on corporations to:

Take immediate action to phase out or quit sachets, to effectively address the environmental, social and economic impacts of these single-use plastics.
Reveal their plastic use by providing public data on the type and quantity of packaging used in different markets, and the chemicals in that packaging.
End support for false solutions such as burning plastic and chemical recycling. Sending sachets and other plastic packaging to cement kilns isn’t recycling.
Redesign business models away from single-use sachets and other single-use packaging of any type – including novel materials such as bio-based or compostable plastics.
Invest in accessible, affordable reuse, refill or packaging-free product delivery systems in all markets, while ensuring a just transition for all relevant workers.

Read the full report here

Family meetings to support and celebrate our amazing volunteers

by Lydia on 15/01/2024 1 comment

Trash Hero Kota Kinabalu leader, Zurainee, was excited to meet her volunteers in a different setting: “it felt good spending time with heroes in a different and ‘cleaner’ platform”.

It’s true that when they usually meet – before, during and after cleanups – Trash Hero volunteers are engrossed in the task at hand. Most of their training is done on the job.

Our Family Meetings, which were most recently held during the last quarter of 2023, give them a chance to spend time together in a different way. They allow for more in-depth discussions, planning and knowledge-building, as well as providing an opportunity to develop stronger friendships and support systems.

During November 24 – 26, Trash Hero Indonesia hosted its second Family Meeting of the year in Bali, for all active chapters within the country. Seventy participants joined the three-day event from 33 different locations.

Seventy participants from 33 locations joined the 3-day event in Indonesia

The country team delivered a packed agenda focused on the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of our activities. The volunteers learned the basic principles of zero waste communities and about the impacts of plastic pollution on climate, human health and biodiversity through interactive games and mini-workshops. They also honed their skills in effective communication, community engagement and strategic planning.

Rima Agustina, Trash Hero World’s Programme Coordinator, who led the event, said: “It was probably our most successful family meeting to date in terms of engagement. I am so inspired by our volunteers’ energy and willingness to learn these challenging topics.”

Feedback from the volunteers confirmed this impression. Clara Keban, a participant from Trash Hero Belu, said that she “learned many things from great friends and mentors […] Other than that, the most important thing that I got from this activity is kinship, cohesiveness and togetherness”.

Trash Hero World covers all the costs for the national Family Meetings, including the participants’ travel, accommodation and food, as well as the planning and logistics.

In other parts of the world, chapter leaders hosted local Chapter Family Meetings. These were first introduced in 2022 when COVID-19 restrictions eased, but travel restrictions meant we couldn’t host national Family Meetings. The feedback we received from volunteers was fantastic, so we have made them a regular event. The budget is again provided by Trash Hero World and, in some cases, local sponsors.

Participants working together, Trash Hero Langsuan

Chapters can make their own agenda for the meetings: some focused on team building with active volunteers, while others extended invitations to the public, community leaders and local government representatives, to broaden and strengthen their support base.

For example, Trash Hero Mersing in Malaysia organised a zero waste picnic at their local beach. They invited kids who had previously joined their cleanups – and their friends. The picnic, with fun games and prizes, was a great example of how to host events without creating waste, as well as a nice way to thank the children for their participation and engage more kids in their activities. Other Malaysian chapters, Trash Hero Cherating and Trash Hero Tuaran, also organised zero waste picnics for their teams.

Trash Hero Langsuan in Thailand held a full day of activities for their volunteers and involved representatives from the local government, temple and even the district hospital who gave a presentation on the health dangers of trash.

Trash Hero Tha Sala, Thailand, Trash Hero Bern, Switzerland and Trash Hero Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, used the Chapter Family Meeting to reflect on what they achieved in 2023 and what they hope to accomplish in 2024.

Chapter Family Meeting numbers so far:

Thailand: 28 adults, 21 kids, 4 locations

Malaysia: 31 adults, 32 kids, 4 locations

Switzerland: 8 adults, 1 location

Chapter Family Meetings continue to take place in early 2024.

Thank you to everyone who participated in, organised and supported these events. Now we are fully charged and ready for another year of action!

Volunteer training 2023 kicks off with over 100 participants

by Lydia on 13/06/2023 No comments

The incredible impact that Trash Hero has had is due to the dedication and commitment of our volunteers. They are the movement’s driving force, and their positive attitude and hard work is inspiring

To keep this spirit alight, Trash Hero World holds regular on-site “Family Meetings”, which allow active volunteers inside our major countries of operation to meet and share new knowledge and experiences. In April and May this year, we hosted a one-day event in Switzerland and 3 x three-day residential events in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

“It was great to see the Swiss Trash Hero Family again, share different experiences, learn from each other and spend a great time together.” Fabio, Trash Hero Bern, Switzerland

In Southeast Asia, volunteers got to know each other through small group work and games, mixing serious learning with plenty of fun. The first day was spent introducing the principles of zero waste systems, including the importance of waste separation, debunking false solutions such as incineration and mapping the problem of waste management in a small island community. Of particular interest was the composting workshop: many participants were keen to try this out on their return home.

The focus of the second day was improving community engagement – exploring how the Trash Hero values and consistent approach establishes trust. This can then be built on to create long term change, for example with the kids’ book programme or the water bottle refill network. The workshops covered social media skills to help increase participation in activities and how to provide meaningful education through cleanups.

“Professional speakers and very good material for us to make improvements in our respective chapters”. Jack, Trash Hero Biak, Indonesia

On day three, volunteers were asked to reflect on the new knowledge and skills they had learned and prepare a strategic action plan to take back to their chapters. Together with support from our mentor teams, this will help to guide their activities over the next six months.

With new friendships formed and new energy found, we see the network stronger than ever moving forward. We are thankful to everyone involved in organising the transport, accommodation and food, creating, facilitating and presenting the sessions, and of course to all those who took time off work to join us.

“This Family Meeting is very extraordinary for each of us chapters to motivate each other more” Trash Hero Volunteer, Indonesia

In total 108 participants joined the Family Meetings from 54 chapters

Trash Hero Switzerland Family Meeting

Date: 23 April 2023

Location: Luzern, Switzerland

Participants: 15

Chapters: 6

Trash Hero Indonesia Family Meeting

Date: 5-7 May 2023

Location: Bali, Indonesia

Participants: 67

Chapters: 33

Trash Hero Malaysia Family Meeting

Date: 12-14 May 2023

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Participants: 9

Chapters: 4

Trash Hero Thailand Family Meeting

Date: 19-21 May 2023

Location: Pattani, Thailand

Participants: 24

Chapters: 11

Thank you to CFLI for supporting the event in Thailand

Group of volunteers smiling at the camera. ll are wearing Trash Hero -shirts

Our Impact up to 31st December 2022

by Lydia on 15/02/2023 2 comments

Every week volunteers around the world put on their yellow t-shirts and commit to working towards a world free from plastic pollution – but what does it really mean to be a Trash Hero?

It means that we are a global movement. Trash Hero is currently active in 139 locations in 17 countries. To date, our movement has mobilised 466,578 volunteers, 120,673 of whom were under 16! We are passionate about including a wide range of people in our activities, and we celebrate this diversity as much as possible.

Being a Trash Hero also means taking regular action against plastic pollution. In 2022 alone, Trash Hero volunteers organised 3,296 cleanups – an average of 9 cleanups a day and 45 kgs per event! This brings our total number of cleanups since 2013 to an incredible 18,206, removing a total of 2,302,862 kgs of trash

We help people reduce single-use plastic through our refill and reuse programmes. To date, we have distributed 106,188 reusable water bottles through our partner network, which includes 673 points where people can refill their bottle for free. This has prevented an incredible 38,8 million single-use plastic bottles from being used and has reduced 2017.572 tonnes of CO2 emissions. We have also distributed 29,520 reusable Trash Hero bags, preventing the use of 10.8 million single-use plastic bags

Trash Hero is also committed to inspiring a new generation of activists! Our dedicated kids programme, which began in 2018, has helped 23,330 kids build sustainable habits. This is done through our story and activities book

As well as hands-on action within communities, Trash Hero is committed to collecting data that can be used to influence policy change on plastic. Trash Heroes have conducted 402 brand audits that have been included in reports holding corporate polluters responsible. These reports have been submitted to the UN negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty.

But it’s not just about the numbers. Being a Trash Hero means that we feel connected with your fellow volunteers, we are motivated to create change and we are thankful to everyone who supports and contributes to our movement.

And most of all, it means that we are family!

Thank you to all of our volunteers who have been part of the incredible impact that we have had. We can’t wait to see what 2023 brings!

We have been collecting data since December 2013; as of 31st December 2022 these are our numbers!

18,206 cleanups
139 active chapters in 17 countries
466,578 volunteers, including 120,673 under 16s
Responsibly collected and disposed of 2,302,862 kg of trash
As part of the Trash Hero Bottle program, 106,188 reusable bottles have been distributed, avoiding 38.8 million single-use plastic bottles and reducing 2,107 tonnes of CO2 emissions
As part of the Trash Hero Bag program, 29,520 reusable Trash Hero bags have been distributed, saving 10.8 million single-use plastic bags

Do you want to be part of a movement that is dedicated to creating change? Trash Hero cleanups are open for everyone to join – no cost, no sign-up, just show up! Find your nearest chapter here.

Nearly 100 participants join our second round of training in 2022

by Lydia on 12/12/2022 No comments

Volunteers are the heart of Trash Hero and the movement’s driving force.

They organise cleanups, educate kids about plastic pollution, and build essential community ties – all in their free time. We want to ensure that Trash Hero volunteers are well-equipped to engage their communities in reducing plastic and feel confident in their skills to lead a successful chapter. To do this, we host a biannual volunteer training workshop – Trash Hero Family Meetings.

In October and November, we went to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, and brought together leaders of our Trash Hero chapters for the second time this year. In total, 96 participants attended from 51 chapters in 4 countries.

We host Family Meetings in countries with a high concentration of active chapters. Chapter leaders are invited to attend, free of charge, and are provided with the opportunity to learn new skills or refresh ones they gained at previous Family Meetings. The meetings help participants strengthen their relationships and support systems, and the local knowledge shared at the events is used to help develop Trash Hero programmes and goals.

The training was attended by a mixture of old and new chapter leaders. Throughout 2022 there have been many new Trash Hero chapters that have started in Southeast Asia, and there have also been many that have been reactivated since COVID restrictions were lifted.

Throughout each weekend, we provided leadership training, information about the importance of zero waste and how to share their knowledge with others at their cleanups. There was the chance to develop skills, such as training their regular volunteers and building their core team. One of the workshops that received the best feedback was the opportunity to develop a strategy for their chapters, examine their goals and dreams for their community with regards to waste, and create a plan that will see these come to life.

There were also team-building activities, the opportunity for discussions and feedback and – of course – a cleanup!

The feedback we received from participants was fantastic, and, as always, we can’t wait to see everyone again next year!

Find the full details for each location below

Trash Hero Indonesia Family Meeting

Date: 14-16 October 2022

Location: Bali, Indonesia

Participants: 67

Chapters: 36

Trash Hero Thailand Family Meeting

Date: 28-30 October 2022

Location: Pattaya, Thailand

Participants: 23

Chapters: 9

Thank you to the CFLI for their generous contribution towards this event

Trash Hero Malaysia Family Meeting

Date: 4-6 November 2022

Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Participants: 11

Chapters: 6

Brand Audit Report 2022: the results are in!

by Lydia on 09/12/2022 No comments

In November, Break Free From Plastic released their 5th annual Brand Audit report. As well as documenting which companies are responsible for the majority of plastic counted this year, it analyses which corporations have been responsible for the majority of plastic pollution for five consecutive years.

The 2022 report consisted of 397 brand audits on six continents; 14,760 volunteers participated, counting and auditing 429,994 pieces of plastic from 4,645 parent companies.

The reports found that these companies were the top polluters for 2022!

The Coca-Cola Company
PepsiCo
Nestlé
Mondelēz International
Unilever
Procter & Gamble
Mars, Inc.
Philip Morris International
Danone
Colgate-Palmolive

Trash Hero contributed significantly to these findings. We submitted 30% (120) of the brand audits used in the report, 6.8% (29,504) of the plastics counted, and 18.2% (2,968) of volunteers that took part were Trash Heroes!

As this is the fifth annual brand audit report, Break Free From Plastic took the opportunity to analyse longitudinal data trends from the five years of data they have collected. They found that Coca-Cola, Nestle and Pepsico have consistently been the top single-use plastic polluters over that time.

Coca-cola has been the worst plastic polluter by a significant lead, with the amount of Coca-Cola branded plastic increasing each year! According to the report, they accounted for 31,000 pieces of plastic collected during the brand audits – representing a 61% increase since 2021! This is unsurprising as a recent report found that their plastic production has increased by nearly 10%!

Break Free From plastic members submitted data from this report at the first annual INC meeting – a meeting of UNEA member governments to discuss the global plastic treaty. This crucial meeting started the negotiation process for the treaty’s terms and included representatives from the plastics industry and civil society groups. The information from the report highlights the need for large corporations to take responsibility for their role in plastic pollution, and it shows that the only way to reduce plastic pollution is to reduce the production of plastic.

We are so proud to be part of such an important movement and play a role in influencing policies that will address the plastics crisis. We want to say a massive thank you to all of the Trash Hero volunteers who have contributed to this data over the years. We have been collecting data for this project since it began, and seeing it be part of such an important event makes the hard world worthwhile.

Thank you to Break Free From Plastic for analysing all the data and representing our views at the INC1 this week.

Trash Hero helps to find world’s top plastic polluters

by Lydia on 13/10/2022 No comments

At the end of September, we concluded our brand audit data collection for the year. This year we conducted 120 Brand Audits! These were completed by 57 chapters in 6 countries – Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Switzerland, Poland and Georgia. There were 1,620 volunteers that took part and they recorded 29,504 pieces of plastic.

A brand audit categorises the plastic we collect at cleanups (food packaging, household products, personal care, smoking materials) and, most importantly, records the name of the parent company that manufactured it. We share this data with Break Free From Plastic, who use it as part of their annual Brand Audit Report.

Break Free From Plastic released its first annual Brand Audit Report in 2018 to identify and hold the top plastic polluters accountable. The globally collected data can be used as evidence to push large corporations to take responsibility for the waste that they create. It drives a movement towards systemic change and a zero waste economy and generates pressure to create real solutions to the plastics crisis.

The 2021 report named The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, Unilever, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Mondelēz International, Philip Morris International, Danone, Mars, Inc., and Colgate-Palmolive as the top plastic polluting companies. Coca-cola, PepsiCo, Unilever and Nestle have been in the top five since the reports began.

We want to say a huge thank you to all the Trash Hero chapters and volunteers who took the time to conduct a brand audit. Trash Hero has been one of the top contributors to Brand Audit data collection for the last five years and we couldn’t do it without the incredible commitment of our Trash Hero volunteers.

The full report will be released later in the year. Who do you think will be named the top plastic polluters? Let us know in the comments!