News Focus - INDONESIA SEEKING BETTER GARBAGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 24 (Antara) - The Indonesian government is seeking ways to effectively handle millions of tons of garbage that piles up in the country every day. Various ideas and concepts on garbage management have been raised in the country, but none of them have been successfully applied. Therefore, President Joko Widodo, who is popularly called Jokowi, has urged the regional governments to prepare pilot projects that can be successfully implemented. "Waste management should have been carried out through a systemic and integrated program. Cooperation in waste management among the central government, regional administrations, and the people is necessary," President Jokowi stated during a limited cabinet meeting on Tuesday. With each individual disposing 0.7 kilograms of waste per day, Indonesia, with a population of 250 million, produces some 175 thousand tons of garbage daily, or about 64 million tons per annum. In order to overcome this mounting refuse problem, President Jokowi has called on the regional governments to prepare pilot projects on garbage management that should be followed by communities and businesses. Furthermore, the head of state had observed that issues in dealing with garbage were mostly related to regulations. "I tried this once when I was the mayor. I found it difficult to implement because the regulations were complicated. The situation in Jakarta was the same as well," he remarked "In countries such as Germany, Singapore, and South Korea, I have seen different techniques being implemented to process garbage. However, I have never found such methods being used in Indonesia," he stated. "Our regulations are less supportive (to the concept of garbage management)," the head of state pointed out. Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya affirmed that Indonesia now had several regulations on garbage management, but none of them are effective in leading the people to solve the waste problem. "After we studied the regulations one by one, it turns out that none of them can solve the problem in the field," Nurbaya said. She stated that the regulations on garbage management are complex. There is a law, seven government regulations, a presidential regulation, and several others. The problem of refuse can be solved if all the garbage is handled in an effective manner, thereby leading to a clean and healthy environment for the people. "This means that the environment is really physically clean. The regional governments in the real sense can handle it and solve it," she said. President Jokowi believes that in order to ensure the successful implementation of a garbage processing program, it must be implemented in an integrated and systematic manner by the central and regional governments in cooperation with the communities and businesses. "It is most important to derive economic benefits from garbage management and ensure a healthy environment. They are crucial to the community and the changing public behavior as well," he stressed. According to Jokowi, activities related to the disposal of garbage so far merely encompassed collecting, transporting, and dumping in landfills using old processes and technology. This process is adversely dangerous, as it will contaminate the ground water. "In view of this, a breakthrough is needed to build an integrated system. We wish to develop a city or district that can serve as an example for its proper garbage management methods, be it through the use of an incinerator, a recycling system, or any other method," he emphasized. Hence, waste management should be seriously handled, so that the management of garbage will be economically beneficial, environment friendly, and will help to change the community's behavior. The utilization of garbage now is still small, accounting for only 7.5 percent of the total volume of wastes that pile up every day. Indonesia produces about 64 million tons of waste a year, and in 2019, it is forecast to reach 67.1 million tons. Of the 64 million tons of garbage, about 60 percent is organic waste, 15 percent plastic, 10 percent paper, and 15 percent is a mix of metal, glass, fabric material, and leather. According to R. Sudirman, an assistant deputy on waste handling affairs of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK), the percentage of inorganic waste, including plastic, is high reaching 15 thousand tons per day. "There is an increasing trend in the production of plastic waste in 2015 due to which the government is encouraging companies to use eco-friendly plastic materials," Sudirman affirmed. Article 15 of Law No. 18 of 2008 on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulates that producers are responsible to manage the impacts of plastic use. Based on the law, Sudirman stated that his ministry will question the steps taken by businesses, including retailers, to reduce the impacts of inorganic plastic waste. "The KLHK ministry will ask for the producers' roadmap on reducing their use of inorganic plastic materials. They should show the efforts that they have taken to reduce the use of the materials, for instance, by producing thinner plastic products," Sudirman noted. He acknowledged that it was not easy to urge producers to shift to the use of biodegradable plastic due to various factors such as technological and price constraints. The KLHK ministry will therefore intensify its campaigns on the use of ecofriendly materials, so that the people will opt for using biodegradable plastic products. Awareness among consumers to use environment friendly materials will ultimately necessitate the manufacturers to produce biodegradable products. Head of the Green Industry Research Center of the Ministry of Industry Lilih Handayaningrum stated that the domestic industries should to be ready and make the necessary preparations before using biodegradable plastic. They also need the presence of technology that can be used to produce thinner plastic products. She noted that common endeavors are needed among the government, researchers (including from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences/LIPI), producers, and consumers to reduce the use of inorganic plastic. Government Regulation No. 81 of 2012 on the use of biodegradable plastic regulates that the reduction in the use of plastic materials is to be carried out in stages within 10 years. The deadline is reasonable as compared to the same process in the United States, which took 25 years.