NATIONAL INFO - The government is busy preparing for a grand event that presents world leaders at the G20 Summit (Summit), November 15-16, 2022 in Bali. The safety and comfort factor for state guests is a key priority that cannot be negotiated. However, what certainly should not be forgotten is the issue of plastic waste in Bali.

Assistant Deputy for Waste Management at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Rofi Alhanif, confirmed that single-use plastic waste, including plastic cassettes, bottles and cups, pollute rivers and sea waters on the Island of the Gods.

"Recently, there was a brand audit research on plastic waste in Bali, so that we know which company products end up in nature, both in the river and the sea," said Rofi, referring to the brand audit of plastic waste polluting the environment in Bali, recently. The brand audit was conducted by Sungai Watch, an environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) in Bali.

Sungai Watch's research showed that of the 227,842 branded plastic waste items collected and analyzed, 27,486 items or 12 percent of the total plastic waste came from large mineral water producers. The breakdown was 14,147 items of plastic cup waste, and 12,352 items of bottle waste.

Sungai Watch reported that almost half of the total plastic waste analyzed was single-use cassette packaging waste under the brands of large F&B companies. Of the total 67,000 items, more than 30 percent were snack packs, and the percentage is equivalent to the total waste of coffee and instant noodle packs.

"Brand audits like the one conducted by Sungai Watch are useful to educate producers to be more responsible, especially to recall the plastic products and packaging they produce and discard in the open environment as waste," said Rofi.

The dominance of market leader product waste is not only in Bali, but also in many other places in Indonesia. The findings of a global #beakfreefromplastic (BFFP) movement in Indonesia also show how market leader plastic waste has stayed at the top for years.

In #TheBrandAudit2021 report, the collaboration of BFFP members, supporters and 11,184 volunteers conducted 440 brand audits in 45 countries. They managed to collect 330,493 plastic waste bins, 58 percent of which were recognized as well-known consumer goods brands.

As is known, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) through Permen LHK Number 75 of 2019 targets a 30 percent reduction in waste by 2030. The reduction target is carried out by, among others, encouraging bottled drinking water (AMDK) producers to change the design of mini-shaped products to be larger (Size up) to the size of 1 liter, to facilitate waste management.

In addition, producers are also asked to implement an accountability mechanism when the product becomes waste (Extended Producers Responsibility/EPR). These two things, the Size up and EPR efforts by producers, are still a challenge to the implementation of KLHK Regulation No. 75/2019.

In a webinar event, the Head of Producer Management Subdirectorate, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ujang Solihin Sidik, reiterated that, "The government encourages producers to adopt the phasing-out of the production of food products and packaging with mini plastic containers as stipulated in the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation No. 75 of 2019 concerning Roadmap for Waste Reduction by Producers."

Based on the regulation, bottled water producers are encouraged to end (phasing-out) the production and circulation of all mini packaging below 1 liter, as of December 2029. The same rule also applies to cassette packaging under 50 milliliters.

 "The regulation applies to all levels of producers, both large and small," said Ujang Solihin. "But in its implementation, the main target is large companies, because they are the biggest contributors to plastic waste."

 

Source: Tempo.co

Original news: HERE

This article was originally written in Bahasa and translated later on to English