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Jakarta’s ban on plastic bags still has holes
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A concierge at Grand Indonesia distributes reusable bags to shoppers on July 1. The luxury mall in Central Jakarta no longer provides single-use plastic bags in keeping with a city-wide ban. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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wo months into Jakarta’s plastic bag ban, the policy has yet to yield optimal results, environmentalists have said, urging the administration to step up monitoring of its implementation.
Regi Risman, 28, hesitantly accepted a plastic bag from a fruit seller at the Mencos traditional market in South Jakarta this month.
“I asked the seller why she was still using single-use plastic bags. She simply said it was okay to use them,” Regi told The Jakarta Post on Monday. “She probably didn’t know about the ban, or no one has warned her to comply with the new policy.”
During his visit to the market, two other vendors selling warm food and household appliances also offered Regi plastic bags, but he declined.
As someone who has been aware of the ban for the past two months and almost always carries his own reusable shopping bags, Regi said authorities needed to continue reminding traders and shoppers to stop using single-use plastic bags.
“There are people who oppose the ban and ask traders why they don’t give them plastic bags. I think they don’t want to pay extra money to buy reusable shopping bags," he said.
Although some sellers at Mencos traditional market do not comply with the ban, Regi said a number of convenience stores and retail chains in shopping malls in South Jakarta no longer provided free plastic bags, but sold reusable shopping bags instead.
