Learnings from our Panel Webinar on 27th November 2025 with TRANSFORM, GPAP, IAGPT and rePurpose
Indonesia is standing at a turning point. As plastic pollution continues to threaten ecosystems and communities, a growing coalition of public funders, private investors, innovators, and civil society is working together to scale something more hopeful: a future where reuse and refill become the norm.
At Enviu, we believe this shift isn’t just possible, it’s already in motion.
Why reuse and why now?
Sachet waste in Indonesia is projected to reach 1.1 million tons by 2030, while less than 10% of all plastic is recycled. Downstream solutions cannot keep up. To turn off the tap, we must redesign the system upstream.
Reuse and refill systems reduce material use, prevent leakage, and significantly cut emissions. But despite their potential, they remain deeply underfunded.
The missing link? Finance that supports systems change.
The funding gap is holding reuse back
Scaling reuse requires upfront investments: washing hubs, logistics networks, standardized durable packaging, digital tracking systems, and retailer engagement. Yet many financial institutions still view reuse as too nascent, too unfamiliar, or too risky – limiting the flow of capital needed to move from pilots to commercial scale.
Unlocking reuse at scale requires innovation, financing, and importantly, collaboration across the ecosystem.
And this need for collaboration was echoed by our partners during the panel session of our Reuse Finance Landscape Publication Launch Webinar.The webinar was held last Thursday, 27 November 2025.
Missed the webinar?
The panelists insights reveal what it truly takes to finance, operationalize, and scale reuse systems across Indonesia. This webinar and publication is part of our work for the Reuse in Jakarta program, in collaboration with Plastikdiet and funded by the Plastic Solutions Fund.
As Ame Trandem from the Plastic Solutions Fund and Rahyang Nusantara from Plasticdiet reminded us, plastic pollution is not simply a waste management issue; it’s a systemic problem. Recycling alone is not going to solve this problem.
What we heard from the ecosystem
Our panelists brought their own angles to this call for collaboration in a lively discussion moderated by Darina Maulana, Enviu Zero Waste Indonesia Program Lead. As the discussion went, Angela Kow, Global Sustainability Assistant Manager for Plastics at Unilever, and Plastics Lead for TRANSFORM (an impact accelerator led by Unilever, the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and EY) underscored how “de-risking with early-stage support and collaboration are essential to make reuse investable.” With more than 50 pilots across 60 product lines at Unilever, she highlighted that reuse demands new business models, strong consumer trust, and a laser focus on convenience and affordability.
Building on this, Liviana Zorzi, Asia Regional Specialist, Global Plastic Action Partnership, World Economic Forum, emphasized the essential role of public funders and development agencies in laying the groundwork for systemic change. She pointed out how the financing roadmap developed by the Indonesia National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) can support local stakeholders to identify gaps, prioritize interventions, and create aligned action, noting that:
“Investing in reuse and refill systems helps shift economies from waste management to prevention.”
From the blended-finance perspective, Svanika Balasubramanian Co-founder and CEO of rePurpose Global drew from pilot learnings across regions to highlight the need for pre-competitive collaboration, especially in developing financing instruments and designing products fit for reuse at scale. Her reminder was clear: “Reuse cannot be more expensive than regular products, especially in price-sensitive regions.”
Policy readiness also took center stage. Dr. Hanna Djikstra, Plastic Researcher & Secretariat at the Innovation Alliance for a Global Plastic Treaty (IAGPT) stressed that regulation provides the long-term commitment industry needs to meaningfully invest. She encouraged innovators to actively engage in policy development, reinforcing that “regulation is key to getting long-term commitment, and innovators can also be advocates.”
Closing the loop, Eline Leising from Enviu Zero Waste Indonesia captured the core bottleneck holding back national-scale progress:
“Financing remains the missing piece to bring reuse to full scale.”
Without sufficient capital flowing into proven models, she noted, even the strongest innovations cannot mature into system-wide solutions. Eline shared our findings of our new study on Reuse Financing Landscape in the webinar.
Dive deeper into the finance landscape behind reuse
Indonesia’s Plastic Crisis: The Oasis of Reuse — our comprehensive Reuse Finance Landscape report.
The path forward
To move from momentum to nationwide scale, Indonesia must prioritize:
- Shared, interoperable infrastructure
Washing hubs and logistics systems - Aligned regulations
Binding reuse targets, incentives, and clarity for industry - Blended finance mechanisms
Pairing public funding with catalytic private investment - Consumer-centered design
Convenience, trust, and affordability for real adoption
A national reuse infrastructure grid is emerging, and with the right capital, it can become Indonesia’s pathway to a circular economy.
A future within reach
Indonesia is ready for its next phase: scaling what already works. With stronger collaboration and smarter financing instruments, reuse can transition from promising pilot projects to a mainstream solution with real, measurable impact. Solutions which can be replicated nationwide, but also on a global scale.
As our webinar host,our venture builder, Rennie Roos, concluded:
“Together, we can turn up the tap and make this happen.”
Read to turn your commitments into concrete action and build a circular future for Indonesia?
Let’s build the future of reuse, together.
Contact us and learn how you can join the movement.
