Ketum Apdamindo Says BPA Labeling Doesn't Affect Drinking Water Depot Business

Illustration of gallon drinking water depot. (special)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Drinking Water Suppliers and Distributors (Apdamindo) Budi Darmawan stated that the labeling of gallons of Bisphenol A or BPA will not negatively affect the business of drinking water depots.

He said this was in response to concerns that labeling BPA, a chemical that can cause cancer and infertility, on reusable gallons widely circulated in the community would hit small businesses, especially refill water depots.

"From the beginning we have expressed our support for the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM). We see that the labeling is basically for the safety of consumers and the business world, in fact, they benefit from adapting the business value chain itself," Budi said as quoted by Antara, Thursday. June 23.

According to Budi, the bottled water industry is a business that is more than 50 years old, and of course it is natural for disruptive changes to occur, such as the labeling of BPA on hard gallons that dominates the market.

"The element of certainty of a sense of security for consumers should be a priority in producing packaged food. Consumers will choose products that are able to adapt," he said.

Apdamindo, continued Budi, anticipates increasing consumer awareness of product safety by participating in socializing government policies regarding the dangers of BPA in gallons made of polycarbonate plastic.

"Because this is related to people's habits, of course it takes time to change," he said.

Budi said, as long as consumers are aware of the condition of the container, the depot will fill it with drinking water according to health standards.

Previously, the Deputy for Food Supervision of BPOM, Rita Endang, stated that the draft regulation on BPA labeling was limited to targeting reusable gallon products made from polycarbonate, a type of hard plastic made using a mixture of BPA.

This type of plastic, he continued, is also widely used as building material such as garage roofs.

According to him, around 50 million more Indonesians consume branded bottled water every day.

Of the total 21 billion liters of industrial bottled water production per year, 22 percent of which circulates in the form of reused gallons.

Of the reusable gallons in circulation, about 96.4 percent of the packaging contains BPA, and only 3.6 percent is Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is BPA-free plastic packaging.