In 10 years’ time, they are required to reduce their product waste or packaging
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian government is scheduled to issue a Ministerial Decree that requires manufacturers of goods to reduce production waste to a minimum 30 percent in a 10-year period, a Ministry of Environment's Director has said.

"In 10 years’ time, they are required to reduce their product waste or packaging. There is a minimum of 30 percent reduction in our draft," Director of Waste Management from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Novrizal Tahar said in Jakarta, Friday. This regulation will compel producers to reduce waste, as at the moment, such reduction measures are optional for each company, Tahar said.

The ministerial regulation has been discussed and is likely to be completed in the near future, although he was yet to confirm whether it would be issued this year, he further said.

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Ways to reduce waste can be implemented by changing product shape design to easing the recycling process and such a step could build a take-back system, he added.

"There are three categories that will be regulated. These are large manufacturers; food and beverage producers, as well as hotels and restaurants, and retail, shopping centers and markets," he stated.

The roadmap for the reduction of production waste is derived from the Presidential Law number 81 of 2012 concerning Waste Management.

The annual weight of landfills in Indonesia has reached 65.2 million tons in 2016, according to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS)'s data, gathered from the KHLK and the Ministry of Industry.

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Translator: Prisca Triferna Violleta/Aria
Editor: Sri Haryati
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