Indonesia: Plastic monster raises Indonesians' awareness of menace of plastic

Antara 20 Jul 19;

Jakarta (ANTARA) - A civil society coalition of 49 environmental groups, including the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and Greenpeace, launched a public awareness campaign highlighting the menace of single-use plastic bags by showcasing a plastic monster.

The plastic monster was displayed as a means of raising awareness among community members of the grave threat of marine debris akin to that posed by a dangerous monster, Chairperson of the Pandu Laut Nusantara (PLN) Prita Laura stated here on Saturday.

Several people are yet ignorant of the dangers posed by trash piles at sea to their lives. Hence, the community members need to be made aware of the fact that their daily lifestyle had contributed to the plastic waste crisis, she remarked.

Laura cited as an example the habit of utilizing single-use plastic cups and plates for drinking and eating.

Seconding Laura's views, Founder of the Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet Movement (GIDKP) Tiza Mafira noted that single-use plastic bags resembled monsters since despite the fact that they merely contributed 10 percent to Indonesia's total plastic waste, they had become a major contributor to marine debris.

Ironically, Laura cautioned that single-use plastic bags were made of materials that did not degrade for 100 years but were merely used for 30 minutes and then discarded.

As part of the civil society coalition's public awareness campaign, the participating environmental groups will not just demonstrate their stance by showcasing the plastic monster but they would also stage a peaceful rally in Central Jakarta on Sunday (July 21, 2019).

The participating activists would begin marching from Hotel Indonesia's Roundabout towards Jakarta's icon, the National Monument Square, by voicing their demand for the government's firm actions to tackle plastic waste.

The Supreme Court (MA) announced that regional governments have the right to ban single-use plastic, Mafira stated.

"Let us become serious in enforcing a ban on single-use plastic and comprehensively improve our waste management system," she emphasized.

Plastic manufacturers were also urged to come up with new-fangled ways of making single-use plastic that can be usable repeatedly, she revealed.

Plastic waste has, since decades, undoubtedly become a major problem in Indonesia amid the government's serious endeavors to deal with the menace by highlighting its detrimental impacts on the country's environmental sustainability.

Plastic waste, which has had a serious impact on the quality of soil and water and may threaten the existence of living creatures, is closely related to the amount of trash produced and used by Indonesians every day.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has noted that some 9.8 billion plastic bags are used in Indonesia every year, and almost 95 percent of it will end up as waste.

The ministry's waste management directorate also estimated that the total number of plastic straws used by Indonesians daily reaches some 93 million, rising from nine percent in 1995 to 16 percent in 2018.

EDITED BY INE
Reporter: Muhammad Zulfikar, Rahmad Nasu
Editor: Suharto

Understanding the plastic monster's message to Indonesians
Antara 21 Jul 19;

Let us become serious in enforcing a ban on single-use plastic and comprehensively improve our waste management system
A civil society coalition of 49 environmental groups, including the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and Greenpeace, launched a public awareness campaign highlighting the menace of single-use plastic bags by showcasing a plastic monster. The plastic monster was displayed to raise awareness among community members of the grave threat of marine debris akin to that posed by a dangerous monster.

Several people are as yet ignorant of the dangers posed to their lives by trash piles at sea, Chairperson of the Pandu Laut Nusantara (PLN), Prita Laura, said in Jakarta Saturday.

Therefore, the community members need to be made aware of the fact that their daily lifestyle had contributed to the plastic waste crisis. Laura cited as an example the habit of utilizing single-use plastic cups and plates for drinking and eating.

Echoing Laura's views, Founder of the Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet Movement (GIDKP) Tiza Mafira noted that single-use plastic bags resembled monsters as, despite the fact that they merely contributed 10 percent to Indonesia's total plastic waste, they had become a major contributor to marine debris.

Ironically, Laura cautioned that single-use plastic bags were made of materials that did not degrade for 100 years but were merely used for 30 minutes and then discarded.

As part of the civil society coalition's public awareness campaign, the participating environmental groups will not just demonstrate their stance by showcasing the plastic monster but they would also stage a peaceful rally in Central Jakarta Sunday, July 21, 2019.

The participating activists would march from Hotel Indonesia's Roundabout towards Jakarta's icon, the National Monument Square, while voicing their demand for the government to take firm action against plastic waste.

The Supreme Court (MA) announced that regional governments have the right to ban single-use plastic, Mafira stated.

"Let us become serious in enforcing a ban on single-use plastic and comprehensively improve our waste management system," she emphasized.

Plastic manufacturers were also urged to come up with new ways to make single-use plastic that is usable repeatedly, she revealed.

Global environment watchdogs, such as Greenpeace, have sent a clear message to multinational corporations in connection with the massive amounts of single use-plastic packaging they have produced.

Jen Fela's article titled, "Plastic monsters from around the world return home to Nestlé" that Greenpeace published on its website on April 24, 2019 revealed that the total amounts of plastic packaging that multinational companies annually use are huge.

Nestle, for instance, used 1.7 million tons of plastic packaging in 2018 (Fela, 2019). Therefore, the Greenpeace activists staged a peaceful rally in front of Nestle's headquarters in Switzerland on April 16, 2019.

As part of their action, they reportedly delivered "a 20-meter long plastic monster covered in Nestlé branded plastic packaging to the company's global headquarters" (Fela, 2019).

The use of plastic packaging is common in all countries, including Indonesia.

In terms of plastic bags, some 9.8 billion plastic bags are used in Indonesia every year, and almost 95 percent of it will end up as waste, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has noted.

The total number of plastic straws used by Indonesians daily reaches some 93 million, rising from nine percent in 1995 to 16 percent in 2018, the ministry's waste management directorate has estimated.

Indeed, the menace of marine debris has continued to plague Indonesia over the past decades. Last year, the country was witness to a grim reality, with the recent death of a sperm whale who ingested almost six kilograms of plastic waste.

The news of the ill-fated sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus), whose carcass washed ashore on Kapota Isle, Wakatobi District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, on November 19, 2018, had grabbed the attention of several mainstream media organizations within and outside the country.

This environmental tragedy, widely published and broadcast by the world's reputable news media, such as Associated Press, CNN, The Guardian, and National Geographic, is a glaring reminder of the fact that plastic waste has become a serious menace for Indonesia.

Considering the grave threats of marine debris, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti opined that if the acts of littering and polluting the oceans continued, marine debris was likely to outnumber the fish at sea by 2030.

"Therefore, I call on the people to reduce the use of plastic bags and to stop littering," she told the residents of Banyuwangi District in East Java Province, when visiting in Tembokrejo Village of the Muncar Port area on April 4, 2019.

Speaking to the local residents during her visit to observe a community-based waste management in Tembokrejo Village, Pudjiastuti said the capacity of the temporary dumpsite in the village needed to be increased.

The villagers also needed to be trained on how to separate organic and inorganic waste in order to involve more people in managing it.

Pudjiastuti appreciated the implementation of waste management in Muncar subdistrict's coastal areas, which saw the involvement of several thousand local residents.

Previously she would avoid the area as it reeked. Thanks to the Bunyuwangi District head, who persuaded her to return, she could spot visible differences, she said citing the Muncar Port in Banyuwangi District as an example.

The area no longer smelled of garbage as its temporary dumpsite was well managed by local residents assisted by the district government and an NGO, funded by Norway and Austria, she said.

"This is a good example of how local governments can play a role. I hope this way of handling waste will be imitated by other villages," Pudjiastuti said. (INE)

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By Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf

Minister asks plastic producers to join fight against marine debris
Antara 21 Jul 19;

If it is not (cleaned up), there will be more plastics than fish in ocean by 2040
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has asked all companies that produce plastic products to help clean up seas and oceans from plastic debris.

Plastic companies should join the fight against marine plastic debris, so far carried out only by the public, the minister said here on Sunday after attending a plastic waste campaign dubbed "Plastic Debris Parade" held at The Aspiration Park.

Indonesia is the world's second largest contributor of marine plastic debris and this could threaten the country's fish exports, she remarked.

"If it is not (cleaned up), there will be more plastics than fish in ocean by 2040," she added.

"Whereas, Indonesia is the world's second largest fish exporter to Europe, and fourth largest fish exporter to the world," she noted.

She estimated that 70 percent of plastic debris would likely to enter Indonesian waters, given the fact that 71 percent of the country's territory is waters.

"We need fish, we need beautiful seas. Fish is for food. Fish is for our fishery industry. In the meantime, we also need to eat to make us smart and to make us healthy," Susi Pudjiastuti said.

She pledged to continue campaigning against plastic waste and to improve the public awareness.

"We continue to organize activities to appreciate seas and love seas, by campaigning on the danger of plastic debris. In several fish markets, single-use plastic is no longer there," she explained.

Indonesia produces plastic waste amounting to 64 million tons annually, and of the total production, 32 million of them are plastic debris polluting seas and oceans, according to data of the Indonesian Plastic Industry Association (INAPLAS) and the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS).

Ten billion single-use plastic bags or 85 thousand tons plastic bags pollute the environment every year, according to the same sources.
Earlier, Minister Susi Pudjiastuti called on Indonesians to curtail the production of plastic waste, as it can degrade the environmental quality, especially in oceans and rivers.

"The efforts to reduce it start from us, by not using, producing, or accepting plastic waste," Susi noted in a statement recently.

The minister urged the public to use bags not made of plastic that can be reused multiple times.

Reporter: Arindra Meodia, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution

Fisheries Ministry to reduce single-use plastics in fishing ports
Antara 21 Jul 19;

The regulation has been made. We have selected plastics in fishing ports managed by the KKP, and we have put them into trash bins and plastic waste treatment devices
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Maritime Affairs and and Fisheries Ministry (KKP) is committed to reducing marine plastic debris by limiting singe-use plastics in fishing ports.

"The regulation has been made. We have selected plastics in fishing ports managed by the KKP, and we have put them into trash bins and plastic waste treatment devices," Bramantya Satya Murti, director general for maritime spatial management of the ministry, said on the sidelines of the Plastic Waste Parade event held here on Sunday.

To reduce plastic use, the ministry has set up plants to produce flake ice that could be put into cool boxes for fishermen.

However, plastic waste remains a problem particularly in small islands, hence industries using plastics are asked to withdraw plastics from their supply chains because the public do not know where to return the plastics, he said.

The Government has issued a Presidential Regulation (PP) No 83 Year 2018 on marine plastic debris to be supervised by the KKP Ministry in cooperation with the Environmental Affairs and Forestry Ministry, and under the coordination of the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs.

"We have set a target that 70 percent of land waste must not enter ocean. It's a huge task. This task could not be done by the government alone. Other stakeholders, the community and producers must also be responsible for Indonesia's ocean," he said.

Earlier, in the same event, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has asked all companies that produce plastic products to help clean up seas and oceans from plastic debris.

Plastic companies should join the fight against marine plastic debris, so far carried out only by the public, the minister said.

Indonesia is the world's second largest contributor of marine plastic debris and this could threaten the country's fish exports, she remarked.

"If it is not (cleaned up), there will be more plastics than fish in ocean by 2040," she added.

"Whereas, Indonesia is the world's second largest fish exporter to Europe, and fourth largest fish exporter to the world," she noted.

She estimated that 70 percent of plastic debris would likely to enter Indonesian waters, given the fact that 71 percent of the country's territory is waters.

"We need fish, we need beautiful seas. Fish is for food. Fish is for our fishery industry. In the meantime, we also need to eat to make us smart and to make us healthy," Susi Pudjiastuti said.

She pledged to continue campaigning against plastic waste and to improve the public awareness.

Reporter: Arindra Meodia, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution