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View all search resultsIndonesia relies on imported plastics as recycling woes hold nation back
Local plastic collectors only contributed 1.1 million tons, with the remaining plastic coming from locally produced sources at 2.3 million tons and virgin plastic imports at 3.5 million.
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Officers examine the contents of an imported container and find illegal plastic waste in it. Sixty-five containers were confiscated at Batu Ampar Port in Batam, Riau Islands, on June 14. The containers were supposed to contain only clean plastic scraps, but all kinds of plastics were found in them. (JP/Fadli)
T
he country’s plastic industry must import plastic scraps because its waste management system has failed to produce a sufficient supply of the plastic that is needed for raw materials, a government official has said.
The Industry Ministry’s director for the chemical downstream industry, Taufiek Bawazier, said local industry players had to import 350,000 tons of plastic scrap last year to meet the national demand of 7.3 million tons.
Local plastic collectors only contributed 1.1 million tons, he said, with the remaining plastic coming from locally produced sources at 2.3 million tons and virgin plastic imports at 3.5 million.
“If we establish a good waste management system, which is the job of the Environment and Forestry Ministry and local administrations as stipulated in the 2008 law on waste management, industry players won’t need to import,” Taufiek told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
He added that plastic recyclers could not just accept any form of plastic waste, as scraps had to meet certain recycling standards. To meet the standards, the materials must be clean and must not come from landfills, as the end products might be contaminated otherwise, Taufiek said.
These standards are regulated under Trade Ministerial Regulation No. 31/2016 on waste imports, which sets rules on hazardous content, requires that independent surveyors conduct inspections before shipments and states that importers must be direct producers instead of traders.
Taufiek said producers mainly recycled the scraps into plastic pellets on top of other value-added products. These plastic pellets are then exported to other countries, giving Indonesia’s plastic recycling industry a major boost, especially after China, previously a major pellet supplier, imposed a ban on waste imports in 2018.
