Kupang (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Waste Management Foundation (Yaksindo) has raised concerns over the recent plastic waste audit conducted by Sungai Watch in rivers in Bali and Banyuwangi, labeling it as unfair and misleading. Yaksindo contends that the audit's scope, which focused solely on downstream waste collection and surface river waste, fails to provide a comprehensive assessment of Indonesia's plastic waste crisis.
Chairman of Yaksindo, Nara Ahirullah, stated that a thorough audit should encompass evaluations not only downstream but also upstream (referring to factories) and in the middle (the community). "You can't draw a valid conclusion about the presence of plastic waste if you only look downstream and at the river's surface," remarked Nara.
He further elaborated that a holistic audit should consider the entire lifecycle of a product, including its recyclability and the brand's efforts to collect and recycle packaging. Nara highlighted that products like multilayer plastic sachets, plastic bags, or diapers, which are difficult to recycle, often end up in the environment, including rivers, due to their lack of recycling value.
Yaksindo also criticized the audit for potentially facilitating greenwashing by focusing only on recyclable products like PET bottles while disregarding more challenging waste categories such as sachets, multilayers, and diapers. Nara emphasized that improving waste management is a shared responsibility among local governments, producers, and the public.
He urged Sungai Watch to advocate for the Bali and Banyuwangi governments to address the challenges posed by hard-to-recycle products.
Nara's comments came in response to Sungai Watch's recent report, 'Sungai Watch Impact Report 2023', which highlighted 10 major pollutants in rivers in Bali and Banyuwangi, East Java. Yaksindo pointed out that Bali and Banyuwangi represent only a small fraction of Indonesia's vast territory, and therefore, data collected solely from these areas cannot accurately represent the nation's overall plastic waste situation.
In the report, Sungai Watch identified 10 specific companies with the highest rates of plastic sachet and multilayer waste pollution in Indonesia, namely Wings, Unilever, PT Santos Jaya Abadi, Indofood, Siantar Top, Mayora Indah, Ajinomoto, P&G, Mama Lemon, and Forisa.
There are over 500 cities, 30 provinces and 70.000 rivers in Indonesia and Sungaiwatch audit only covered few rivers in less than 10 cities in Bali and East Java. Many activists and environmental organizations deem Sungaiwatch audit is way overclaim and does not represent the whole picture of plastic waste problem in Indonesia. Sungaiwatch, a Bali-based NGO led by a French citizen has collected more USD 1.2 million in donation for it’s activities. Observes urged the government to audit the organization financial collection and spending and wondering whether Sungaiwatch has permit for public fund collection from the Indonesian government.
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