T

he city is pumping out between 1,900 and 2,400 tons of plastic trash every day, according to the city’s environment agency.

“Jakarta produces 7,000 tons of garbage every day, with some 1,900 to 2,400 tons of it being plastic trash,” agency head Isnawa Adji said during a plastic cleanup operation on Pramuka Island, Thousand Islands regency, on Friday, as reported by kompas.com.

Given the situation, Isnawa said, Jakarta has become the second-largest producer of plastic waste in Indonesia.

“Residents use plastic products in their daily lives,” he added.

Isnawa stressed that plastic, being non-biodegradable, was particularly dangerous for marine life, which could consume it or become entangled in waste products.

Such plastic waste can end up in humans, as demonstrated by a recent study by Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation, which found that about 80 percent of the fish they caught in the Brantas River in East Java had ingested plastic parts from disposable diapers.