INTRODUCTION

There will be more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050. Every 20 minutes, the equivalent of a 10-ton truckload of plastic is dumped into the waters around Indonesia, making this country the biggest polluter after China.

In Indonesia’s case, given that base infrastructure is not keeping up with the rapid rate of urbanization, Indonesia could reach such a dubious milestone ahead of most countries. Indonesia is estimated to generate over 190,000 tons of waste everyday.

Plastic constitutes around 25,000 tons per day of which at least 70-80 percent is believed to end up in rivers and coastal waters. Issues include large-scale deforestation (much of it illegal), and related wildfires causing heavy smog over parts of western Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.