Issues – ICEL

Averting The Global Plastic Waste Tsunami in Indonesia

23 May 2019 by admin

Recently, awareness about plastic waste and its impact has found a place in the hearts and minds of Indonesians and communities worldwide. The urban lifestyle is shifting gradually away from single-use plastics, and heading toward plastic reduction regulations, among other things.

Bulk stores are a new trend to change the delivery system of products. Instead of buying products in packaging wrapped by supermarkets or certain brands, there is a growing market now for conscious consumers who bring their own containers, sacks or empty jugs to bulk stores to buy washing liquids, or some grams of grains, nuts, vegetables, etc. based on their liking or need. Zero Waste Stores in Bali and Toko Organis in Bandung, West Java, are some examples of bulk stores.

Global plastic production has steadily increased to almost 350 million tons per year in 2017, growing three times faster than the global gross domestic product.

Worldwide, recyclable plastic trade value is US$5 billion per year. In 2018, Indonesia imported 320,500 tons of plastic scraps from 42 countries with a trade value of around $102,300. This figure was double the volume and value of the trade in 2017, as an impact of China’s ban.

Interestingly, Indonesia’s top trade partners in 2018 were the Marshall Islands and the United States. The trade volume imported from this small island state was double the amount imported from the US.

Water for All, Health for All

25 March 201925 March 2019 by admin

A child is bathed at an evacuation camp in Sentani, Papua, on Thursday, five days after a flash flood hit the region. Some 10,000 people have reportedly left their homes. (Antara/Zabur Karuru )

This year’s World Water Day of March 22, themed “water for all”, took place just five days after the third electoral debate that covered health issues. Thus it is timely to evaluate our task ahead on ensuring water is accessible and safe for all.

As we witnessed in the March 17 presidential debate, the discourse on health raised the question on balancing the quality of health services for all with the cumulative high costs borne by the nation. The answers of both vice-presidential candidates Ma’ruf Amin, running with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, and Sandiaga Uno, running with Prabowo Subianto, focused on more efficient governance of the healthcare system as well as disease prevention. Unfortunately, no one touched on the environmental factors that cause a large number of diseases of which the treatment is covered by our universal healthcare system.

Poor health is strongly associated with water pollution. The Global Burden of Diseases study in 2015 found that 1.8 million premature deaths across the world were related to water pollution. According to a study in Indonesia led by former health minister Nafsiah Mboi in 2016, skin and diarrheal diseases were significant causes of reduced life expectancy.

Diarrheal diseases are still prevalent among children living in poor environments in Indonesia according to other studies. Unimproved latrines and untreated drinking water are strongly associated with rural communities and urban slums. While only 6 percent of people in Jakarta lack access to proper sanitation, in rural Papua the number reaches 98 percent, as cited by the World Bank in 2016.

Plenty of Homework Left as Indonesian Palm Oil Industry Enters 2019

23 December 201821 December 2018 by admin

As Indonesia’s palm oil industry prepares to enter 2019, its stakeholders are pointing out the substantial number of homework that remained to be done to turn an industry which has become one of the nation’s main bread earner into one that is sustainable and therefore immune to the continuous attacks and criticism it has been plagued so far.

Derom Bangun, Chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Council (DMSI) said that the heaviest and pressing challenge faced by the Indonesian palm oil industry was its sustainability, that everyone adheres to good agriculture practices.

“The biggest challenge is the matter of sustainability that needs to be accelerated so that the negative accusations addressed against the palm oil industry could be silenced,” Bangun told The Palm Scribe in a short text message.

He said that besides accelerating the process of sustainability certification to cover at least all palm oil plantation, it was also important for all companies to control their operation so that they do not engage in practices that could result in criticism from others. A consistent and persuasive supervisory role of the government was also needed to ensure the good practices are respected.

Tiur Rumondang, Indonesia Director of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) also said that Indonesia needed to be able to show that palm oil is and can be sustainably grown in Indonesia but emphasized that this needed collaborative efforts from all stakeholders.

Jakarta Bay Pollution a Threat to Future`s Generation

12 March 2018 by admin

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – Pollution of the Jakarta Bay has caused great concern for people aware of the extent of damage it could cause to the public health especially of the future`s generation.

More hazardous is pollution by plastic garbage, which is not easily degraded or decomposed. It would take tens even hundreds of years for plastic to be decomposed as against only days for banana peels, an expert has said.

Comprehensive planning, therefore, is necessary to clean the Jakarta Bay especially from plastic garbage to protect the ecology from disaster in the future .

Former Minister of Environment Emil Salim addressing expert discussion at the Jakarta Convention Hall earlier this month called for serious commitment to bringing to reality a vision that in 2030 the sea water in the Jakarta Bay could be used as a source for fresh water fit for human and industrial consumption.