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Batam begins returning plastic waste to US, Europe, Australia
Containers of plastic waste from the United States, Europe and Australia should soon be returned to the countries of origin. The Batam customs authority says it has received requests from the importers to send the containers back.
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Dumping ground: Indonesian customs officers examine one of 65 containers of imported trash at Batu Ampar Port in Batam, Riau Islands. Indonesia returned five containers of trash to the United States. (The Jakarta Post/Fadli )
Containers of plastic waste from the United States, Europe and Australia should soon be returned to the countries of origin. The Batam customs authority says it has received requests from the importers to send the containers back.
Sumarna, head of the submission and information service (BLKI) at the Batam Customs and Excise Office, told The Jakarta Post that the importers’ requests had been received on Monday. “We are starting to process the requests,” Sumarna said on Tuesday.
According to Sumarna, there are four importers who are obliged to return 49 containers containing toxic waste (B3), namely PT Wiraraja Plastic, PT Tanindo, PT Royal Citra Bersama and PT Cakra Abadi. However, not all of them had sent request letters to the office yet.
He declined to mention which importers had failed to send the request letter.
“We will reveal [their names] transparently when it’s time to carry out the [reexport],” he said.
He added that, as the containers came from different countries and different importers, the process would differ in terms of duration and transportation. All of the containers would be transshipped in Singapore.
Approval of the reexport requests by the office would be granted within a week, subject to the inspection and administration processes in the field.
