Gov't Pressed to Tighten Scrap Paper Import Regulation
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26 June 2019 15:57 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The government is pressed to seriously handle the domestic plastic waste smuggling cases in scrap paper imports landing in Batam and Surabaya, as it would present worrying environmental impacts if not handled vigorously.
Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation (Ecoton) executive director Prigi Arisandi reveals that there is an increase in the volume of the imported paper waste which amounted to 739,000 tons in 2018 from 546,000 tons in the previous year. It is used for raw materials in an East Java paper factory.
“Out of 12 paper-making factories in East Java that we surveyed, the amount of plastic waste found in the scrap papers were from 10 to 30 percent,” said Prigi in a press release on Wednesday, June 26.
He asserts that the plastic waste smuggling needs to be stopped immediately and mentions that his concerns are not with the paper waste imports.
Prigi said that Ecoton suggests the Indonesian government to consider scrap paper imports into the Customs and Excise Directorate General’s “red route.” He also pushes for exporters to certify recycling companies and revoke the permits of paper factories that conduct any type of transaction that is linked to purchasing imported domestic plastic waste.
BISNIS