Indonesia not a waste disposal site for developed countries: Minister

Nurbaya speaking with the media following the meeting on waste import on Tuesday (ANTARA)

Bogor: Indonesia should not turn into a waste disposal site for developed countries, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya has said.

“It does not mean that we reject imports of paper and plastic scrap. The problem is that these imports were contaminated by illegal waste, such as used diapers, used infusion bottles, ampoules, and used batteries,” Nurbaya said, quoted by news agency ANTARA.

Most of the waste was imported from the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany and Hong Kong, data from the ministry indicated.

According to the news agency, the ministry has so far re-exported 400 containers of illegal waste, and there are some 1,262 to 1,380 more containers that need to be checked for illegal and hazardous waste.

In 2018, data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) showed an increase of 141 percent (283,152 tons) in the import of plastic waste to Indonesia.

This figure was the highest for imports of plastic waste in the past 10 years. In 2013, the import of plastic waste was 124,433 tons. However, the increase in imports is not balanced with the export figures, as these figures declined 48 percent 98,450 tons in 2018.

The minister cited President Joko Widodo as saying that he would not tolerate the import of waste contaminated by hazardous material.