REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government is discussing ways to reduce plastic waste. Beside that, the government also is considering a plan to impose sanctions and disincentives on the use of plastics, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said here on Friday.
"The discussion covers the gradual reduction of plastic waste, including the application of technology to reduce plastic waste," he said.
A call for the reduction of plastic waste in the country has resurfaced after the carcass of a 9.5-meter-long sperm whale was found washed ashore the Kapota isle, Wakatobi District, Southeast Sulawesi, on November 19. Nearly 5.9 kilograms of plastic waste were found in the whale's stomach.
The giant mammal had ingested 750 grams of 115 plastic cups, 140 grams of 19 hard plastic, 150 grams of four plastic bottles, 260 grams of 25 plastic bags, six pieces of wood weighing 740 grams, two flip-flops of 270 grams, a 200-gram nylon sack, and over a thousand pieces of raffia string weighing 3,260 grams, Laode Ahyar, an official of the Wakatobi National Park, informed an Antara correspondent in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on November 20, 2018.
A sperm whale washed ashore the Kapota isle, Wakatobi District, Southeast Sulawesi, on November 18.
The cause of the whale's death is still unknown. However, considering the large lump of plastic waste in its stomach, it is mostly likely that the plastic waste caused its death.
This is the second whale stranded ashore the Wakatobi waters this year, after a 13-meter-long whale was found dead in the Bombana waters last February.
In response to plastic waste found in the whale's stomach, the vice president said the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime Affairs has launched a campaign to clean the country's coasts from plastic waste.
The government has once imposed disincentives on the use of plastic bags by requiring consumers to pay for plastic bags. But the policy proves ineffective to reduce plastic waste in accordance with presidential regulation number 97 of 2017. The presidential regulation is aimed at reducing plastic waste by up to 30 percent in 2025.
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