B

y 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans. At least, that’s the predictions by World Economic Forum if we follow the current trajectory. Every year more than 275 million tons of plastic waste is produced, and 8 million tons is dumped directly into the oceans.

The equivalent of driving a dump truck full of waste into the ocean every minute all year round. The exponentially growing amount of waste is a bleak by-product of the changing consumption patterns and the fast growing global population. And a challenge too big to ignore.

Over the past decade, Indonesia and Denmark have been working together in the environmental sector to identify solutions to ecological and energy challenges.

Wouldn’t it be great if the solution to one problem could at the same time solve another problem? Or in other words — if we could stop wasting waste to the benefit of both people, profit and the planet? It is actually possible.

Take for example our activities in Cilacap in Central Java. Together with Indonesian partners, we are developing innovative solutions to transform solid waste from landfills into fuel to be used by a private cement company.

In Semarang, Denmark is supporting the introduction of gasification systems in the local landfill. This will create affordable energy for households in the area. By introducing new technology, a lot of household waste can be turned into energy.

That benefits the economy and the environment alike.

Similarly, wastewater also holds a potential for energy production. In Klaten in Central Java, Denmark is supporting the development of a treatment plant that can transform the wastewater from the local villages’ aren palm starch production into clean water and biogas.

Only 45-50 percent of Indonesia’s urban solid waste is currently collected.

That, in turn, can be distributed to the households in the villages for cooking purposes. And in Jakarta, Danish technology and urban planning are already at work assisting the city administration with flood-control to help prevent flooding.

Tomorrow, I commence a four-day visit focused on strengthening the innovative partnership between Denmark and Indonesia, not least within the environmental sector.

Building on our existing cooperation, we will now forge an even closer partnership.

Together with Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya I will launch a new government-to-government cooperation in the water and waste sectors. The cooperation aims at sharing best practices and regulatory knowhow to help solve some of Indonesia’s mounting waste challenges.

In Indonesia more than 64 million tons of waste is generated annually, a figure that increases by 2 percent to 4 percent per year.

The waste sector is by far the area most affected by a growing population and unsustainable consumption patterns.

Only 45 percent to 50 percent of Indonesia’s urban solid waste is currently collected. Much of the waste ends up in open landfills, in the nature or the oceans. With 1.3 tons per year, Indonesia is the second-largest contributor of plastic waste in the world’s oceans behind China. And
plastic waste is estimated to increase by 75 percent over the next decade.

Denmark is a world leader in waste management; recycling; and using waste in energy systems. In Denmark, waste is regarded as a resource.

In fact, we import waste, imagine that! To put it simply: waste is turned into a sound business model. We want to share these experiences with Indonesia and pave the way for increased investments and public-private ventures.

Our envisaged waste and water cooperation has both a government-to-government and a business-to-business dimension. Innovative solutions are often best achieved by creating public-private partnerships.

During my visit, I am accompanied by officials from the Danish Energy Agency and private sector representatives from the waste and water sectors.

Drawing on a wide range of actors is key in developing the tailor-made solutions that will assist Indonesia in achieving its goals.

Innovative ways of thinking are also the raison d’etre of our engagement on forestry in Indonesia. During my visit, I will go to the magnificent — but also endangered — endemic lowland rainforest, Hutan Harapan in the central parts of Sumatra. The rainforest is under pressure from encroachment.

During my visit, I will explore new ways of utilizing the forest in a sustainable way that will preserve the unique rainforest and its biodiversity as well as improve the livelihoods of local inhabitants.

I will be launching the first ever sustainable Mountain Bike Race in Hutan Harapan, “Tumble in the Jungle”, to promote eco-friendly tourism and raise awareness about the need to protect Indonesia’s natural resources and providing a tangible source of income for local communities.     

On the surface, our two countries might look as different as can be. But the truth is, that we can achieve much more by working closely together in partnerships aimed at developing and sharing state-of-the-art solutions to some of our common challenges.

We share a desire to find ways to square the circle on one of the key questions of our time: How do we increase productivity and grow our economies to the benefit of everyone — but in a sustainable way that does not harm the environment?

Developing joint answers to that question is why a partnership between the world’s fourth most populous country and a small European country like Denmark makes sense.

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The writer is Denmark’s minister for development cooperation