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Pasar Jaya to go green by selling 'besek' for Idul Adha
Besek (containers made of plaited bamboo) will replace single-use plastic bags to distribute meat during Idul Adha, the Islamic Day of Sacrifice.
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Children watch as piles of meat are sliced into pieces by an Idul Adha committee. The meat was distributed to local people for an Idul Adha celebration at Al Ikhwan Mosque in Medan, North Sumatra, on Sept. 12, 2016. This year, the Jakarta administration has urged residents to distribute meat in environmentally friendly containers. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
City-owned market operator Pasar Jaya will offer 20,000 besek (containers made of plaited bamboo) for sale to replace single-use plastic bags for Idul Adha, the Islamic Day of Sacrifice during which plastic bags are typically used to distribute qurban (sacrificial) meat.
This year’s Idul Adha falls on Aug. 11.
Each besek will be sold for Rp 2,000 (14 US cents) and be available at 112 locations in Jakarta, Pasar Jaya president director Arief Nasrudin said.
The bamboo containers will be sold at 37 outlets owned by Pasar Jaya, including Jakmart and the Mini Distribution Center (Mini DC), and 75 of its markets.
He said besek would be safer to use than single-use plastic bags.
“Using plastic bags for food can potentially carry a lot of diseases. At the same time, they are also hard to degrade in nature. That’s why Pasar Jaya offers besek as an alternative [to plastic bags],” Arief said on Wednesday in a written statement.
He said besek were expected to reduce plastic waste, which made up 30 percent of Jakarta’s 7,000 tons of daily waste.
Pasar Jaya previously advised that vendors and customers rely less on plastic bags when shopping at Pasar Jaya markets, Arief said.
“We no longer offer plastic bags if customers pay using their KJP (Jakarta Smart Card). For qurban, we sell besek. We hope for people to use fewer plastic bags,” he added.
The city administration has urged people to replace plastic bags with alternative food containers, such as paper boxes, besek or biodegradable bags, when distributing meat on Idul Adha.
“This year we are urging residents to use environmentally friendly containers,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said on Tuesday.
