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mid the plastic waste crisis in the country, administrations in Greater Jakarta have stepped up efforts to ban single-use plastic bags — following in the footsteps of Bogor, West Java, which implemented the ban on Dec. 1.

Bogor Mayor Bima Arya banned shops from providing their customers with plastic bags by issuing Mayoral Regulation No. 61/2018 on the elimination of single-use plastic bags.

Bogor residents, who produce up to 1.7 tons of plastic waste every day, are now being forced to replace plastic bags with eco-friendly alternatives. They are also being urged to bring their own bags when shopping.

The Jakarta administration is set to issue a similar regulation soon, despite being less aggressive than Bogor.

Jakarta Environment Agency head Isnawa Adji said he hoped that the planned gubernatorial regulation, which will complement Jakarta Bylaw No. 3/2013 on waste management, would be issued no later than December this year.

Isnawa said the city would discuss the plan to ban plastic bags with all related stakeholders before implementing it.

“We disseminated information about the plan to traditional markets, retailers and campuses to ask for their feedback. We don’t want to issue the regulation without preparing them,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The city is also conducting surveys to gauge residents’ responses to the plan.

Isnawa said most business owners and residents supported it, but they still wanted to get clarity about the policy’s rewards and punishments.

According to Article 129 of Jakarta Bylaw No. 3/2013, stores that fail to provide eco-friendly shopping bags could be fined a minimum of Rp 5 million (US$346) and a maximum of Rp 25 million.

After the gubernatorial regulation is issued, the city will educate residents about the program for six months before enforcing it.

The agency revealed that plastic contributed to 14 percent of around 7,000 tons of waste produced in the city daily. Of that, 1 percent is single-use plastic bags.

Last week, South Tangerang’s mayor issued a circular urging retailers and traditional shops to stop using plastic bags.

The deputy mayor, Benyamin Davnie, said residents produced 800 to 1,000 tons of waste per day and nearly half of them were in the form of plastic.

He added that the administration was still trying to raise awareness about the importance of reducing plastic bags by holding events at schools and cooperatives. “We want the movement to start with residents who bring their own bags when shopping and saying no to plastic ones offered by shops.”

Benyamin said the mayor would issue a mayoral instruction soon to ban plastic bags.

The Depok administration is going a similar route.

“We will invite retailers to sign a joint commitment to reduce plastic bags. We will also issue a circular and a mayoral regulation,” said Iyay Gumilar, the Depok Environment and Sanitation Agency’s sanitation unit head.

Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo said the ministry was committed to reduce plastic waste, adding that he had ordered all officials, including canteens in the ministry’s building in Central Jakarta, to stop using single-use water bottles, cups and straws.

The Jakarta Environment Agency has implemented the policy for some time with Isnawa ordering his subordinates to bring their own water bottles to work.

He said the use of plastic bottles and lunch boxes have also been banned from meetings.