Environmental journalists society believes multi-stakeholder collaboration can break the chain of marine plastic waste in Indonesia.
Collaboration between all elements of society appears to be the only way to deal with plastic garbage polluting Indonesia’s seas. This was underlined during a seminar on “Sustainable Products, Waste Management, and its Impacts on Biodiversity,” held by the Society of Indonesian Environmental Journalists (SIEJ) on May 20, 2023.
SIEJ chair Joni Aswira Putra said that as the only organization of environmental journalists in Indonesia, SIEJ wants to participate in efforts that tackle plastic waste. It wants to make it a priority in newsrooms and media coverage.
“This is what has become a main agenda for SIEJ, to continue to foster discourses such as this,” Putra said. He added that he was encouraged by the growing enthusiasm among journalists and that this issue is now seen as a crucial topic.
He believes that although there has been an improvement in the quality and quantity of news reports, the narrative of the environment and climate change still needs to be tightened in relation to political agendas, education, health, and other intersectionality.
By doing so, SIEJ hopes to help increase the synergy of various parties such as the government, society, academics, and the private sector, in protecting the environment in Indonesia.
Data from the World Population Review showed that of the 10 top countries contributing plastic waste to the seas in 2021, eight were from Asia, including Indonesia.
The Philippines released 356,371 tons, India 126,513 tons, Malaysia 73,098 tons, China 70,707 tons, Indonesia 56,333 tons), Brazil 37,799 tons, Vietnam 28,221 tons, Bangladesh 24,640 tons, Thailand 22,806 tons, and Nigeria 18,640 tons.
Plastic pollution in the ocean leads to the destruction of ecosystems. It is consumed by marine fauna which are sources of food for human consumption, reduces the number of tourists, and thus weakens the income of coastal and island communities.
Collaboration is needed
Cross-sector collaboration is expected to break distance and access barriers, as well as increase knowledge and actions to save the ocean, especially for people on the islands. This is because access to information and distance are the main challenges in waste management interventions in these areas.
Moluccas Coastal Care (MCC) Director Teria Salhuteru, who joined in via Zoom, showed the conditions of the beach in Paso, the Bay of Ambon, Baguala, and the coast of Banda sub-district in Central Maluku that was covered with waste.
Waste in the ocean hindered fisheries in those areas. Foreign tourists who dive into those areas also complained about the water conditions in Maluku.
“So, marine flora and fauna are threatened. The fact is that Banda has a very rich biodiversity, especially for fishes, tuna, and other species.” Salhuteru said.
Since 2017 MCC has installed nets in mangrove areas to protect them from plastic waste. However, he believes that more massive actions are needed to deal with marine waste in the area.
Salhuteru expressed hopes that effective collaborations could involve the community, businesses, and the government. This would enable them to develop knowledge, technology, and regulations related to waste management.
The collaboration is also hoped to eliminate access and distance constraints felt by communities, especially in eastern Indonesia.
Lathifah Awliya Mashudi, Waste4Change Senior Consul Executive said that collaborations in responsible waste management need to be followed by efforts to increase awareness and understanding about the impacts of waste, equalize supply and demand, develop and boost infrastructure, and ensure the fulfillment of commitments by stakeholders and law enforcement.
Mashudi cited the collaboration between the community and the government on Barang Lompo Island in South Sulawesi in 2022. This collaboration led to a change in their behavior through programs including providing garbage bins. The program also educated communities about the 3Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Under the program, communities were asked to separate their waste. In return, they were exempted from waste management dues.
“From here, the estimated waste reduction is 28%,” Lathifah explained. “Economically, we don’t gain much, but what we are more concerned about is the health of the coral reefs and other marine life.”
In Ambon, Waste4Change involved local communities in the waste bank program, while businesses such as cafes and restaurants were engaged in the waste donation program. Communities and businesses are urged to sort their waste and send them to organizations competent to process them.
Lathifah added that it is imperative to apply the concept of a circular economy in the future. This is done by minimizing waste, protecting products and materials, and maintaining natural regeneration. By implementing a circular economy, she hopes resources used can be renewed and reused. In addition, she hopes to extend plastic packaging products’ value and lifetime.
Government efforts
President’s Regulation No. 83 of 2018 on marine waste management sets down an ambitious target of reducing marine plastic waste by up to 70 percent by 2025.
The regulation provided the base for the government to prepare strategies under the National Action Plan (RAN) for the marine waste management plan for 2018-2025 which include the national movement to raise awareness among stakeholders, land-based waste management, coastal and marine waste management, and research and development.
Although data by World Population Review said Indonesia released 56,333 tons of plastic into the ocean in 2021, Secretary of the Directorate General of Marine Spatial Management of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Kusdiantoro said, the accumulation of marine waste is estimated to be more than 500 thousand tons.
He believed geographical location between the Indian and Pacific Oceans, he said, contributes to waste from other countries entering Indonesian waters.
He added that efforts to reduce plastic waste in the ocean are also part of the government’s commitment contained in the blue economy priority program. This is especially the fourth and fifth programs, namely marine spatial planning for coastal and marine ecosystems protection and “Love the Sea Month”.
In addition, the government includes business actors in efforts to reduce marine plastic waste mandated by the coastal areas and small islands management law and the marine law.
According to Kusdiantoro, the law is implemented in the regulation of licensing utilization, especially in the submission of approval documents for the suitability of marine spatial utilization activities (PKKPRL), where business actors must be able to guarantee the fulfillment of the requirement for controlling marine spatial utilization areas from plastic waste.
In terms of programs and legal products, Indonesia has a strong commitment to reducing marine plastic. In the future, Kusdiantoro hopes that these efforts will be supported by the development of regulations in various regions related to marine waste management.
