South Asia, home to nearly a quarter of the world’s population, also bears one of the world’s heaviest plastic pollution burdens. Rapid urbanization, rising consumption, and overstretched waste management systems have pushed plastic leakage into an environmental and economic crisis. Yet across the region, a new wave of innovators is challenging the status quo and redefining plastics not as waste, but as an opportunity for innovation, entrepreneurship, and circular economy.

This momentum came into sharp focus on 12–13 November 2025 at the Circular Plastics Innovations Symposium in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where more than 100 innovators, business leaders, investors, and development partners gathered to explore one shared question: How can South Asia’s innovation and entrepreneurial capacity be supported to turn the tide on plastic pollution?

Hosted under the Plastic Free Rivers and Seas for South Asia (PLEASE) Project, the symposium brought together 28 grantee organizations from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, along with 18 finalists of the PLEASE HACK 2025, a regional youth hackathon that empowered young people to design plastic pollution solutions for their home countries.

“Often times as I go to the mountains in the Himalayas, to the beaches in the Maldives and Sri Lanka, in the streets of Lahore and Delhi, sometimes it overwhelms me. And honestly, I feel a sense of hopelessness that we perhaps are losing the battle of plastic pollution,” said Director General of South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) during his welcome remarks. “But what keeps me sleeping despite these overwhelming challenges is the anger I find in young people, the entrepreneurs that I met all across South Asia. And these entrepreneurs are here today. It is this anger that is channeled to creative solutions that brings us here today. Here in this two-day symposium, what they would ask is that now that they have the solution, now that the anger is channeled towards a creative solution, a little support. And that’s why we have the investors who are also keen to have been travelling from across South Asia to be at this occasion, for at this moment. To look for ideas, to look for sustainable impactful purposeful solutions.”

“As an island nation, Sri Lanka knows full well the consequences of plastic pollution on our rivers, coasts, marine life, tourism and communities” Chief guest for the event, honorable Minister of Environment, Sri Lanka Dr Dhammika Patabendi mentioned in his key address. “Across South Asia, the story is similar. Our neighbors share this challenge, and we are committed to addressing it together through collaboration and regional solidarity. The Plastic Free Rivers and seas of South Asia (PLEASE) initiative has been instrumental in driving innovation and regional cooperation across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and beyond. Today’s symposium stands as a tangible expression of that commitment connecting innovators, funders, and partners to scale up sustainable solutions”

A Regional Innovation Engine for a Circular Economy

At the heart of the PLEASE project is its support for scalable, locally driven solutions. Through 12 Regional Competitive Block Grants (RBGs) and 16 Innovation Grants (IGs), PLEASE has supported the development and scaling of 49 locally driven solutions that have impacted the lives of the communities they surround. These grants have empowered enterprises across Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka to test new models including plastic-to-material recovery technologies, waste collection platforms, community-led recycling enterprises, and sustainable packaging systems.

The project also promotes youth engagement through PLEASE HACK 2025, which encouraged young innovators from eight South Asian countries, including Afghanistan and India, to propose solutions to plastic pollution in their local contexts.

With many grantees now reaching the end of their implementation period, the symposium provided a timely platform to explore and secure long-term investment for promising solutions to scale beyond the life of PLEASE.

“Today, the spotlight belongs entirely to our innovators” said Head of Support Services of UNOPS, Maki Rankoe. “You have turned the challenge of plastic pollution into an opportunity for circularity and sustainable enterprise. You represent the ingenuity required to move beyond grassroots initiatives to scalable, successful business ideas. You have proven your concepts. Now, the goal is to scale up and move from project success to enduring, self-sustaining impact”.

Building Investment-Ready Impact Businesses

Prior to the Symposium in November, the PLEASE project prepared the innovators on business development and scaling, with virtual capacity building session on investor readiness sessions and on innovation scalability. Experts from KPMG Sri Lanka and Singapore coached the PLEASE innovators on market positioning, innovative financing and revenue models, impact measurement, and investment negotiation – key competencies that determine longevity in the green economy.

The learning was immediately translated into action: innovators delivered live pitch presentations to potential investors from across South and Southeast Asia, philanthropic organizations, and development partners, many meeting face-to-face with funders for the first time.

Youth Leadership at the Forefront

The spotlight also shone on young problem-solvers. PLEASE HACK 2025 finalists from Afghanistan to India and Sri Lanka presented innovations that challenge longstanding assumptions about waste systems, demonstrating that generational change is already underway.

Among the innovators was Team White Root by Myco Box, the regional winners from the PLEASE HACK 2025: Chathura Madusanka of team Myco Box emphasized how PLEASE helped transform years of university-driven research into applied innovation. “Since 2022, I have been dedicated to pioneering research and introducing several innovative developments during my university years. Success in this competition helped me to establish a laboratory and pilot plant for Mycoboc while pursuing my PhD, creating a foundation for extensive research and product development.”

A Regional Platform for Collaboration and Scaling

Beyond investment matchmaking, the symposium strengthened cross-border cooperation; an essential component of reducing plastic leakage across river systems and coastlines that span multiple countries.

Bringing together 28 grantee organizations and youth innovators from eight South Asian nations, the event encouraged shared learning, technology exchange, and discussions on market integration across the region.

Government representatives, private corporations, philanthropies, solution providers, and development organizations also participated in the opening session and networking dinner, reinforcing the multisectoral nature of circular economy systems.

Speaking at the opening, a World Bank Country Director to Maldives and Sri Lanka, Gevorg Sargsyan mentioned “it is evident that each of you is turning plastic problem into a solution, reimagining what a circular economy can look like in South Asia. But I want to emphasize that the private sector is critical here to achieve scale and sustainability. Businesses investing in recycling circular product are developing new business models for plastic credits and extended producer responsibility are key to making the circular economy a reality. They are proving that sustainability and growth can go hand in hand, recognizing that solutions to plastic pollution require private sector innovation”

A Turning Point for South Asia’s Plastic Future

The Circular Plastics Innovations Symposium demonstrated that reducing plastic pollution is not solely an environmental imperative but is a strategic economic opportunity for South Asia. By backing locally grown innovations and facilitating access to finance, the World Bank and its partners are supporting a new generation of climate-smart enterprises that can transform how plastic is produced, consumed, and recovered.

The message emerging from Colombo is clear: South Asia has the talent, creativity, and experience to lead the global transition to circular plastics. With continued investment and collaboration, these solutions can scale across the region and beyond.