Minister Of Environment: No More Plastic Waste Imports In 2025

Minister of Environment and Forestry Hanif Faisol Nurofiq during a visit to the Jakarta Reccycle Center, South Jakarta, Wednesday (30/10/2024) ANTARA/Prisca Triferna

JAKARTA - Minister of Environment (LH) Hanif Faisol Nurofiq will supervise and enforce the law if there are still parties who violate the provisions for stopping imports of plastic waste, which is planned to be implemented in 2025.

Minister LH Hanif said he would oversee the policy of stopping imports of plastic waste for recycled materials with supervision and law enforcement efforts carried out by the Ministry of Environment.

"Importors who are still naughty, we will go down, we will enforce the rules related to this context. We will apply articles that are indeed charged to violators like this," said Hanif as quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, October 30.

"So I remind all of us, next year there will be no more imports of plastic. Enough is enough, our plastic is quite large and not well managed," said the Head of the Environmental Control Agency (BPLH).

According to him, the ban on importing plastic waste will apply to all types, including the sort. For this reason, he invites all importers to contribute to efforts to resolve the issue of plastic waste in Indonesia by going upstream, instead of bringing in garbage from abroad.

Waste imports, he said, are unwise steps, so those who seek profit from waste should work together to solve the problem of reducing and managing waste in the country which will at the same time ensure the availability of raw materials for plastic and paper needed by the industry.

"Let's go down to the upstream cause of waste and we will handle it together. You can make a profit, you can make a profit from your business, you can also benefit from reducing waste pressure in our country," he said.

According to data from the National Waste Management Information System (SIPSN) in 2023, there are 38.2 million tons of waste generation, and only 61.75 percent of them are managed.

Of that amount, plastic waste contributed the second largest composition, namely 19.21 percent of the total onset, under food waste with a percentage of 39.65 percent.