Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil plans to ban conventional plastic bags to tackle the plastic waste problem in the city.
“Use biodegradable plastic bags instead,” said Ridwan after attending an event to mark National Waste Awareness Day at Bandung City Hall on Tuesday.
Ridwan previously banned the use of styrofoam food containers.
The mayor expressed his optimism about the implementation of the ban, saying that he was still trying to find ways to reduce waste in the city.
Environmentally friendly company PT Nirwana Alam Hijau has produced biodegradable plastics from corn, soy and sunflower seeds.
“So it’s a mixture of organic components,” Nirwana Alam Hijau co-founder Daniel Rosenqvist said during an event to introduce material to replace styrofoam, recently.
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Nirwana Alam Hijau created an eco-friendly poncho before producing food containers and straws. For food containers, the company uses sugar cane fiber.
“We don’t want to have too much influences from outside Indonesia, we want to use technology and resources here because even though it’s an organic product if we have to bring it from outside [Indonesia], there are still carbon footprints [detected in the production process],” Rosenqvist went on.
The central government has said it is time for Indonesians to pay for plastic bags when shopping. Plastic bag waste from retailers in Indonesia is estimated to account for 9.8 billion bags a year, or about 38 per person. (trw)
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