Bandung Mayor Oded M. Danial recently signed Mayoral Regulation No. 37/2019 on reducing plastic consumption, which also affects business players.

For example, Article 7 states that individuals who engage in business activities are no longer allowed to provide plastic bags to their customers for free. Plastic providers are also required to gradually decrease the amount of nonbiodegradable plastic bags they produce over the next five years.

“We hope retailers can lead the movement by implementing this policy because they are doing better financially compared to small vendors. The point is everyone should realize the importance of this regulation,” Oded said
last week.

During the first year, businesses should cut at least 10 percent of plastic bags provided for free. In the fifth year, businesses are required to cut up to 100 percent of their total plastic bags provided for free.

Industrial engineering lecturer Mohamad Satori of the Bandung Islamic University said at least 2.5 million plastic bags ended up as waste in the city daily. This calculation is based on research into plastic bag usage in the city, which was later taken into account during the drafting of the regulation.

“When we surveyed the retail customers, 75 percent of our respondents said they reused plastic bags as waste bin liners. These plastic bags make up 12 percent of total waste in Bandung,” Satori told The Jakarta Post.

Previously, the administration had issued a policy that encouraged retailers to put a price on plastic bags. However, the policy was short-lived and only a small number of retailers abided by the policy.

Bandung Environment Agency head Kamalia Purbani said the administration aimed to increase the price of a plastic bag to Rp 3,000 (21 US cents) to Rp 5,000 by 2020 to discourage consumers from using them. However, a thorough study needs to be done to determine the price.

Kamalia said that her agency was currently designing a strategy to introduce the paid plastic bags policy to sellers in traditional markets.

Responding to the regulation, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) in West Java, Hendri Hendarta, hoped the regulation did not only target large-scale retailers.

“Many consumers request plastic bags to be reused as waste bin liners,” Hendri said.

At the national level, at least 19 regencies and cities and a provincial administration have introduced regulations to control plastic use. The administrations include Bogor in West Java, Bali province and Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

Arif Sumargi, head of the monitoring division at the Waste Management Directorate of the Environment and Forestry Ministry, said Banjarmasin had managed to reduce waste by up to 52 million plastic sheets following the introduction of the plastic use control policy.

The West Java provincial administration also aims to build an incinerator to cope with its mounting waste management issue.

West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said the governor and regents as well as mayors in West Java had agreed on the tipping fees at the planned Legok Nangka incinerator, expected to be built in Padalarang, West Bandung regency, which is set at Rp 386,000 for every ton of waste.

“This tipping fee will be divided between the provincial and regency or city administrations. The provincial administration will cover 30 percent of the fee and the regency or city administrations will cover the remaining 70 percent,” Ridwan said after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the tipping fees and waste volume regarding the development of the Legok Nangka incinerator with the regents and mayors recently.

The councils at the regency and city level will have to follow up on the MoU to issue a supporting legal basis accordingly. (dpk)

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