Indonesia waste-free by 2020

Surabaya, East Java-wapresri.go.id Vice President Jusuf Kalla called on all parties to make Indonesia waste-free by 2020.

“This is a hard work and thus needs joint efforts,” said the Vice President when attending the National Waste Awareness Day 2017 at Surabaya Park in Kenjeran, Surabaya, East Java province on Tuesday (Feb. 28)

According to the Vice President, waste is something that cannot be separated from everyday life and it can be beneficial or dangerous depending on how it is managed.

He further said, Indonesia has various regulations on waste management, including Law No. 18 of 2008 on Waste Management, Government Regulation No. 81 Year 2012 on Household Waste Management and Similar Waste, and the Regulation of Minister of Home Affairs No. 33 of 2010 on Guidelines for Waste Management.

However, the Vice President deplored that such rules have not been optimally implemented.

Therefore, he wished, the National Waste Awareness Day would not only be a moment to disseminate those regulations, but also a chance to further improve public behavior in addressing the problem of waste.

In the occasion, the Vice President also gave appreciation to parties involved in waste management. He also hoped, public awareness in addressing the waste problem would increase over time.

Previously in the same event, Surabaya mayor Tri Rismaharini reported, waste management in Surabaya has successfully reduced 10% to 20% of waste that goes to landfill sites (TPA).

During her tenure, said Risma, she encouraged people to reduce waste by 300 tons per day.

Markets in Surabaya, she pointed out, have managed to reduce waste between 30-90 tons per day. Besides, she added, schools in the city have also turned to be eco-schools.

Risma added, her administration has also built integrated landfills which produce compost for 121 parks in Surabaya.

“Surabaya has also built a 65-hectare park which is formerly a landfill,” she said.

The waste, she further said, has also produced 6,000 watts of electricity to light parks in the city.

Meanwhile, the East Java governor appreciated the solid waste management program in Surabaya.

“Surabaya has implemented a program of clean villages with many interesting innovations, such as ‘trash bank’ where you can borrow money [from the bank] and pay with trash. [People can also] use the trash to pay doctors,” he said.

Minister of Environment and Forestry (LHK) Siti Nurbaya in the meantime said, to commemorate the National Waste Awareness Day, around 16,000 volunteers had cleaned up the Kenjeran beach and collected 10,378 tons of garbage on the day.

This activity, she added, was also carried out in 226 districts/cities throughout Indonesia with 9,950 facilitators.

Siti added, there are currently 4,450 trash banks registered all over the country, which manage 60 percent of organic waste and to 40 percent of plastic waste.

Concluding the ceremony, the minister symbolically handed over aids for waste management to Surabaya mayor in the form of garbage motorcycles and a recycling centre (PDU) with a capacity of 20 tons per day, and to Lamongan regent in the form of waste bins and a PDU with a capacity of 10 tons per day. In the event, the Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises also presented aids to 6 trash banks.