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. ***4***
(T.A014/INE/o001)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/O. Tamindael) 24-06-2015 12:22: |
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