Bekasi City to Impose Plastic Ban in March
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7 January 2019 21:39 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Bekasi - The Bekasi administration will impose a ban on plastic starting March 2019. The ban will begin from modern stores in the city.
An official of the Bekasi Environment Agency, Ferdinan, said the regulation would start to take effect in March, pending the preparedness of retailers in Bekasi.
A focus group discussion (FGD) on the issue would take place immediately, in which retailers, communities, and providers of eco-friendly bags would be present, Ferdinan said.
“We will inform that plastic waste is a global and national issue,” said Ferdinan in Bekasi, Monday, January 7.
Read: Plastic Waste in Jakarta Amounts to 300mn Pieces Annually
According to him, the government expects to replace plastic bags with vegetable bags (made of sweet potatoes), fabric bags, and other reusable bags. “We will immediately announce this policy to the public,” he noted.
Based on study results, the largest producer of plastic waste was household. On the national scale, each person produces 0.7 kilograms of plastic waste daily. "This will begin with consumers, so they bring their own fabric bags” Ferdinan remarked.
The plastic ban was based on the Mayor's Regulation No. 61 of 2018 on the reduction in the use of plastic bags. To date, the city produces 800 tons of plastic waste daily.
ADI WARSONO (CONTRIBUTOR)
