Food delivery and online shopping businesses in Jakarta are gearing up for more sustainable practices amid concerns that plastic waste might increase due to their buoyant services during COVID-19, despite the progress of the single-use plastic ban.

Seven months into the ban in Indonesia's capital, reports have shown a declining use of plastic bags in minimarkets. Indomaret, for example, has completely cut the monthly use of 8,000 single-use plastic bags per store, according to retail group Indomarco Prismatama managing director Wiwiek Yusuf. They have also seen decreased monthly sales of reusable tote bags, from 250 bags per store during the first month after the ban was in place to half the number now. This suggests that more buyers might be using the reusable bags they had bought earlier.

Indomaret’s data echoed a recent survey done by members of the In...