INDONESIA
Indonesia is one of the biggest plastic users, averaging about 9.8 billion plastic bags each year (Siswo, 2016) and at the same time, Indonesia is also the biggest source of marine litter in SEA and second in the world (first is China) (Taufan, 2017).
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Lack of environmental awareness, inadequate landfills and inefficient waste management are the main reasons identified that resulted in the massive plastic dumping in seas by Indonesia.
PRESSING NATIONAL ISSUE
The combination of inadequate landfills and inefficient waste management led to a catastrophe in 2005, a waste slide in Leuwigajah, Bandung. 71 houses were buried, killing near 150 people (Lavigne et al., 2014). Thus, improving their waste management is a pressing national issue that the Indonesian government has to address, not solely for the long-term implications on the environment.
Ever since the early 2000s, pro-environmental attitudes have been incorporated into Indonesian legal framework, such as the 1999 Marine Pollution Control that prohibit any action that result in marine pollution and the more recent Law 32 of 2014 on the Sea (Taufan, 2017) that alleviates marine pollution.
GOVERNMENTAL EFFORTS
Education is perhaps the most important pillar in solving the problem of marine litter in Indonesia. There is generally a low concern for the consequences of marine litter (Al Jazeera, 2016), especially plastic wrappers, as villagers and fishermen were used to disposing their organic wrapper (banana leaves) at the roadside or into the sewage directly and continue to do so with modern, inorganic wrappers.
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Furthermore, it was mentioned that national awareness campaigns were lacking in Indonesia. Thus, education to raise awareness about the negative effects of plastic in the ocean, and to even stigmatize improper disposal of plastic waste is crucial in maximising effects of any governmental policy or community based programmes.
EDUCATION
In 1994, a community education programme on beach litter, including a beach clean-up event, was implemented in Ambon, an island located at eastern Indonesia.
It was discovered that while the event was effective in reducing the amount of litter in the shores and changing the villagers’ behaviour in keeping shores clean for at least six months afterwards, long term success was less likely .(Uneputty, Evans, Suyoso, 1998)
More campaigns and programmes have been conducted in recent years to influence the community.
For example, a weekly beach clean-up led by Pro surfer, Dede Suryana in Cimaja, West Java. (“Indonesia: Drowning in Rubbish”, 2016) Dede worked closely with the local fishermen to persuade them to not litter directly into the ocean when they are out fishing. The direct interaction with local community ensures that their bad practices will be changed.
There are also more non-governmental organisations (NGO) that fights for environmental causes in Indonesia.
One related example is Gerakan Indonesia Diet Kantong Plastik (which translates to Indonesia Plastic Bag Diet Movement), which had been working closely with various convenience stores and supermarkets to reduce the consumption of plastic bags since 2010. (Diet Kantong Plastik, n.d.)
Such campaign methods, created by locals and targeted at locals, are thus effective in changing local mindsets.
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Check out their campaign video above that focuses on local consumption habits.
As marine litter is transboundary in nature, community-based programmes are generally limited and ineffective in solving the problem entirely. However it is still crucial in changing people’s attitudes toward marine litter, especially for people living in the rural areas, who makes up near 50% of the total Indonesian population. (World Bank, 2015)
COMMUNITY-BASED PROGRAMMES
Indonesia, since branded as the biggest ocean plastic contributor, has been actively striving to solve the problem. Effects of various campaigns and regulations will take time to show.