Blue Economy Webinar: Tackling Ocean Plastic Waste in the Seas of East Asia

Did you know that an estimated eight million metric tons of plastic waste generated in 192 coastal countries enters the ocean every year?

While plastic debris in the marine environment is widely documented, prior to the groundbreaking research by Dr. Jenna Jambeck, little was known about the quantity or geographic distribution of plastic entering the ocean. The majority of this waste comes from rapidly developing economies with lagging infrastructure, and the research finds that without intervention this annual input of waste into the ocean could double by 2025.

Join this ​​FREE ​1-hour webinar to ​learn more about addressing the challenge of ocean plastic waste:

• Estimated plastic waste flows and current status of policies
• The challenge and opportunity of ocean plastic waste
• How the region fits into the global context of this issue
• Recommended actions for stemming the tide of ocean plastic

The presentation will be followed by ​Q&A where participants will have an opportunity to ask questions. Can’t attend live? You should still register -- we’ll be sending out the recorded presentation and slides to all registrants.

Tuesday, December 5
9:00 am Cambodia/Lao PDR/Thailand/Vietnam/Western Indonesia
10:00 am China/Central Indonesia/Malaysia/Philippines/Singapore
11:00 am Eastern Indonesia/Japan/RO Korea/Timor Leste

REGISTER HERE

SPEAKER

Jenna Jambeck, Associate Professor,
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Dr. Jenna Jambeck is an Associate Professor in the College of Engineering and Director of the Center for Circular Materials Management in the New Materials Institute at the University of Georgia (UGA). She has been conducting research on solid waste issues for 20 years with related projects on marine debris since 2001. She also specializes in global waste management issues and plastic contamination. Her work on plastic waste inputs into the ocean has been widely recognized by the global community and translated into policy discussions by the Global Ocean Commission, in testimony to U.S. Congress, G7, G20 and the United Nations Environment program. She is also currently conducting environmental diplomacy as a private citizen in the International Informational Speakers Program for the US Department of State and has conducted programs in Chile, Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, and Vietnam. She has won awards for her teaching and research in the College of Engineering and the UGA Creative Research Medal, as well as a Public Service and Outreach Fellowship for 2016-2017. In 2014, she sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with 13 other women in eXXpedition to sample land and open ocean plastic and encourage women to enter STEM disciplines. She has conducted extensive outreach on this issue locally in K-12 schools and around the globe at speaking events. She is co-developer of the mobile app Marine Debris Tracker, a tool that continues to facilitate a growing global citizen science initiative. The app and citizen science program has documented the location of over one million litter and marine debris items removed from our environment throughout the world.

More on Dr. Jambeck and her projects can be found here. Follow her work on Twitter @JambeckResearch, @DebrisTracker or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jenna.jambeck, https://www.facebook.com/MarineDebrisTracker.