Jakarta has finally hopped onto the bandwagon of regions restricting single-use plastic bags by issuing a long-anticipated regulation on the matter.

Gubernatorial Regulation No. 142/2019 on eco-friendly bag usage was signed by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan on Dec. 27 and is to take effect in June, six months after it was enacted on Dec. 31.

The regulation, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post, imposes a ban on single-use plastic bags in modern department stores and supermarkets, as well as traditional markets, and requires eco-friendly bags be available in stores and markets.

Failure to do so would result in a minimum fine of Rp 5 million (US$358), which must be paid within a week of the stores receiving a notification letter about the sanction. The penalty would multiply if the stores failed to pay within the deadline.

If offending stores do not pay the penalty five weeks of getting the warning, their permits will be frozen and possibly revoked, according to Article 28.

Anies said that although not all plastics were problematic and some could even be repurposed, the latest regulation was made to raise awareness.

“The point is that we want to raise people’s awareness to reduce plastic waste,” Anies told reporters on Tuesday.

According to the Indonesian Plastic Bag Diet Movement, Jakarta uses up to 300 million sheets of single-use plastic in a year, contributing to the 357,000 tons of plastic waste generated by the city annually.

Jakartans lauded the effort to ban single-use plastics, seemingly tired of the materials being ever-present in stores and trash.

Ilham Hadi Permadi, 29, resident of Cipinang, East Jakarta, said he welcomed the ban.

“I’m personally happy about the gubernatorial regulation on the ban on single-use plastics because it will help the environment to be free of the danger of using plastics,” Ilham said.

He said the transition to plastic-free life might still have a long way to go, with plastics present used by retailers and online food delivery services.

“I wish that the word of this regulation would be more spread out, even though [people] have been educated [about reducing plastic waste] for a while, we still need to be reminded so all levels of society and businesses realize the dangers of plastic and slowly reduce and replace plastic bags with environmentally friendly bags from home,” he said.

However, Ilham said he still used plastic bags as retailers still offered them regularly but would be happy to use alternatives such as tote bags.

Others are still skeptical as plastics still widely used in consumer products.

Faisal Andrianto, 27, a resident of Cipayung, East Jakarta, said Indonesians were too used to plastic bags because they were given away for free and people might think twice before spending money on reusable shopping bags.

Faisal also said that even products such as plastic bottles produce waste, possibly more than single-use plastic bags.

“I think instead of banning single-use plastic bags, the government should focus on solutions to recycle plastic bags and other plastic materials,” he said.

Faisal also said that he was pessimistic that the gubernatorial regulation would be effective, as previously retailers had tried charging for plastic bags, but later on went back to giving them away for free.

Back in 2016, Jakarta charged customers Rp 200 per plastic bag when shopping at modern retailers as stipulated in a decree by the Environment and Forestry Ministry that required 27 cities to do so.

However, despite a 55 percent nationwide reduction of plastic bag use during the three-month trial period, then-governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama scrapped the policy following protests from retailers.

The policy was revived in March 2019 as the Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) decided that retailers should again charge customers Rp 200 per single-use plastic bags.

Activists also laud the gubernatorial regulation, saying that it has been expected and campaigned for for so long and that the regulation can be a stepping-stone to reduce plastic waste.

“We have been campaigning for this regulation even since President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was still the Jakarta Governor. Alhamdulillah, it is realized now,” Indonesian Plastic Bag Diet Movement executive director Tiza Marfia told the Post on Tuesday.

Tiza also said she appreciated that the regulation was different from those of other cities as it also targeted vendors at traditional markets, while in other cities it only applied to modern stores.

Traditional markets in Jakarta are owned and operated by city-owned PD Pasar Jaya.

“Because both modern and traditional [stores are being targeted], the regulation should be implemented well as the two have different approaches,” Tiza said.

Tiza said the regulation would be easier for modern stores because they usually have neater inventory so eliminating an item, such as single-use plastic bags, would be easier, different than traditional market vendors who would need extra supervision by the city.

She said that Jakartans should be ready for the single-use plastics ban as most retailers had started charging for plastic bags in March 2019 when Aprindo implored its members to do so.

Tiza added that with Jakarta and at least 20 other cities involved, banning single-use plastic should be supported by the central government.

“This is no longer a trend, but part of the mainstream movement so the central government should make use of this momentum to make other cities implement similar policies,” Tiza said.

Popular

Is Indonesia really ready to embrace dual citizenship?

Tens of thousands seek better lives in Jakarta. But is the city losing its draw?

Elon Musk's Starlink granted licences to operate in Indonesia