In a nutshell, Ministerial Regulation No. 75/2019 would require producers to create a roadmap to reduce waste by 30 percent from 2020 to 2029. Producers refers to business players in manufacturing, including fast moving consumer goods, personal care. Restaurants, cafés, hotels and the retail industry are also included.
Meanwhile, the term waste refers to plastic, aluminum, glass, and paper.
The Ministerial Regulation also mandates the private sector to take on a number of responsibilities in reducing waste, including they must provide waste storage facilities (Article 7), waste monitoring (Article 13) and fund waste-reduction programs (Article 26).
There are also other regulations that have been released in Indonesia regarding household and waste management, which include Government Regulation no. 81 of 2012 concerning Household Waste and Waste Management, Presidential Regulation no. 97 of 2017 concerning National Policies and Strategies for Household-Friendly Waste Management and the Like.
The two set a target to reduce waste generation in the country by 30 percent by 2025.
Private Sector & NGO Initiatives in Indonesia
Regulations alone are not enough, because it takes public awareness to deal with Indonesia’s plastic waste problem. For this reason, non-governmental organizations as well as corporations that care about the environment initiated some projects to showcase the benefit of a better plastic waste management to the environment as well as the society.
Some private sectors or NGOs initiated some projects to help reduce plastic waste in the country. For example, Danone, the producer of Aqua bottled drinking water, initiated #BijakBerplastik (Be Wise in Using Plastic) movement, which according to a study, within four years of its journey, has made significant contributions to the environment as well as lifestyle of people in Indonesia.
Danone, collaborated with Institute for Economic and Social Research – Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia (LPEM FEB UI), to do an independent study to analyze the impacts of #BijakBerplastik to environment, social and economy. LPEM FEB-UI is a research institute in the social and economic field that benefits society and conforms to good governance.
The study about #BijakBerplastik, which educates the Indonesian public about plastic knowledge and the bad effects of excessive plastic waste, showed that the movement has offered an economic value equal to Rp1.22 trillion, since the beginning of the project 2018 until 2021.
“#BijakBerplastik Movement shows the company’s commitment to implement the circular economy concept in managing packaging waste in a sustainable manner,” Vera Galuh Sugijanto, VP General Secretary Danone Indonesia said in a statement dated October 13, 2022.
The movement, she claims, is part of the company’s efforts to help the government in reducing the plastic waste leakage into the ocean in Indonesia by 70 percent of the current amount by 2025.