TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs reportedly sent a team to verify the investigation report by an East Java environmental conservation NGO upon supposed plastic waste smuggling from Australia.

The report suggests that these wastes entered Indonesia via waste paper import whereas the team is being sent to the areas of Porong and Brantas for a field verification after the non-profit organization was summoned to present their findings.

“My staff is currently on their way there to verify the information. I cannot just conclude its accuracy,” said Safri Burhanuddin, Coordinating Deputy IV of human resources, science and technology, and maritime culture on Monday, April 29.

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Up until now, Indonesia continuous to import waste paper as the material can barely be obtained domestically. One of the countries Indonesia imports this is from Australia. Indonesia’s 2018 waste paper import from its neighboring country reached 52,000 tons in 2018 alone.

An investigation by the Ecological Observations and Wetlands Conversation (Ecoton) found that the waste papers imported from Australia had contained plastic materials, which the organization deemed was intentional.

Moreover, Indonesian regulations state that plastic waste must not exceed 2 percent of the total weight of the imported used paper materials. Ecoton claims that up to November of 2018, nearly 30 percent of used paper bought from Australia contained plastic.

CAESAR AKBAR