Commitment to Handle Waste

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

National Waste Care Day is an opportunity to promote concern for the environment. One activity was carried out by Bank BNI employees in Jakarta who committed to reducing plastic waste on Thursday (21/02/2019). The Environment and Forestry Ministry’s latest data show that plastic waste accounted for 15 percent of the waste production of about 65.79 million tons in 2018. The decline in the generation of plastic waste was obtained through the hard work of various parties, with the largest contribution from garbage banks, which now amount to 7,488 units.

The issue of waste is not only related to prevention programs but also lifestyle. Waste problems are partly triggered by the habits of people.

As a result, we witness waste problems in various forms: unhealthy environments, dirty rivers, seas and lakes contaminated by garbage, and cities turning into slum areas. The government and non-governmental organizations have taken the initiative to deal with waste issues. National Waste Care Day, which fell on Feb. 21, has been observed since 2005, exactly one day after the tragic landslide in the Leuwigajah Final Disposal (TPA) in Cimahi, West Java.

As waste problems persist, it is necessary to strengthen our commitment to resolve them. From the government’s side, we don’t doubt the sincerity. As reported in this daily on Friday (Feb. 22, 2019), the government began this year to allocate funds to local administrations for waste management. This was conveyed by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati during the National Work Meeting for Clean Indonesia in Jakarta.

Reading the results of the National Working Meeting was encouraging because there was synergy and collaboration between ministries and institutions. To overcome the growing number of full landfills, for example, the Industry Ministry explained and gave examples of the use of waste as raw material, the Public Works and Housing Ministry looked at locations that could be used as landfills and the Environment and Forestry Ministry provided a map of landfills that were already full.

On the other hand, the amount of plastic waste has declined. As the environment ministry notes, compared to 2017, the composition of plastic waste dropped 1 percent to 15 percent of total waste. Even though it is only 1 percent, if you see the absolute weight of waste reaching 65.79 million tons in 2018, the percentage above is quite good.

We also want to give appreciation to waste banks — now there are 7,488 — that have made significant contributions to reducing waste. These garbage banks collect plastics that are worth selling and can be recycled from households. With that, they prevent plastic from being released into the environment or dumped in landfills.

However, we are also concerned because of the total waste, only 63 percent went to TPAs and only 10 percent were recycled. The rest were reportedly dumped into the surrounding areas, including into the sea. According to records of the Office of the Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister, there is addition of 38 tons of garbage per year, including 1.29 million tons of plastic waste.

For this plastic waste issue, First Lady Iriana also campaigned for resistance against plastic waste in Ambon city on Wednesday (21/2). While appreciating the First Lady’s initiative, we want to emphasize that besides demanding government policies and programs, the problem of plastic waste also demands the involvement of all citizens.