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Indonesian group backs up plastic bans amid judicial review
Plastic industry players are suing the Bogor and Bali administrations for banning single-use plastics.
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Plastic industry players are suing the Bogor and Bali administrations for banning single-use plastics. (Shutterstock/Vikentiy Elizarov)
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coalition of civil society organizations has challenged a judicial review petition on Bali’s ban on single-use plastics, which has been accused of violating other environmental regulations.
Andri Gunawan, an environmental law expert from the University of Indonesia and a member of the coalition, said the group had filed an amicus curiae — a brief filed by someone who is not a party to a case — to challenge the judicial review petition filed by plastics and recycler associations against regional regulations banning single-use plastics.
"Amicus curiae literally means 'friend of the court'. Because we are not directly implicated in these cases, we are offering consideration to the court in support of the regulations," he said in a press conference on Monday.
The Indonesian Plastic Recycling Association (ADUPI) has filed with the Supreme Court a judicial review petition against Bali's gubernatorial regulation that bans single-use plastics.
A similar regulation banning single-use plastics issued by the mayor of Bogor municipality in West Java has also been challenged by the Indonesian Olefin, Aromatic and Plastic Industry Association (Inaplas).
Both associations have cited that the local regulations are not aligned with Law No. 18/2008 on waste management, arguing that the law does not require the ban of single-use plastics, and also Law No. 39/1999 on human rights, specifically on the right to work.
The coalition, comprising the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), the Indonesian Environmental Law Guide Association (PPLHI), the Indonesian Center for the Study of Law and Policy (PSHK), Amnesty International and the Indonesian Plastic Bag Diet Movement (GIDKP), is challenging the petitions, suggesting that they could potentially cause a setback in the country's baby steps toward zero waste.
