Indonesian government aims to reduce marine waste (mostly plastics) by 70 percent by 2025 and plans to spend $1 billion over the next five years for the same.
The government is also planning to introduce an extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulation by end of 2019 – that will make consumer goods manufacturers more responsible for managing waste from their product packaging.
The new regulation is expected to be applied to processed foods and beverages manufacturers as well as retailers and supermarkets that are dependent on plastic packaging for their products.
These businesses would be expected to come up with a 10-year plan with details of how much waste (generated from their products) will be collected and recycled – via their own recycling facilities or partner with existing facilities. They will be also expected to provide drop boxes for consumers to dispose of product waste for processing. The EPR regulation is also expected to mandate these business to include more recycled plastics in their product packaging.
An EPR requirement is already stated in the Waste Management Act of 2008, but it hasn’t been easy to enforce.
There are already discussions among the Environment Ministry, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Trade and business associations to design the roadmap for waste reduction by producers.
For more details on Indonesia’s plastics recycling efforts, attend CMT’s RecyclePlast Asia on 13-14 November, 2019, in Bali.
