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View all search resultsReducing plastic waste through effective EPR
Indonesia, which has more than 17,000 islands and 81,000 kilometers of coastline, currently produces 3.2 million tons of plastic waste annually, and 1.29 million tons of that ends up in the ocean. If no action is taken, an additional 800,000 tons of plastic waste will flow into the ocean annually in five years from now.
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I
ndonesia is the second-biggest contributor of marine plastic debris, after China. The world’s biggest archipelago, which has more than 17,000 islands and 81,000 kilometers of coastline, currently produces 3.2 million tons of plastic waste annually, and 1.29 million tons of that ends up in the ocean.
If no action is taken, an additional 800,000 tons of plastic waste will flow into the ocean annually in five years from now.
More than 80 percent of the waste in Indonesia is unsorted. As a result, most of the plastic waste either ends up in landfills or flows into the ocean.
“We do not have a proper waste management system. Many people here in Indonesia consider rivers, lakes and oceans garbage dumps. They throw all plastic bags and bottles and other waste into rivers and oceans. The government must take drastic action immediately,” Abdul Gani, who works in a private company in West Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
The government of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo took the matter seriously and issued two important decrees – Presidential Decree No. 97/2017 regarding the National Waste Management Policy and Strategy and Presidential Decree No. 83/2018 regarding the Plan of Action on Marine Plastic Debris 2018-2025 – and prepared a road map.
Through these two decrees, the government is aiming to cut marine plastic waste by 70 percent within next five years and reduce waste by 30 percent through the 3 Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) by 2030.
“The vision goes even further: By 2040, we aim to achieve a plastic pollution-free Indonesia – one that embodies the principle of the circular economy, in which plastic will no longer end up in our oceans, waterways and landfills, but will go on to have a new life,” Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut B. Pandjaitan said recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
