Director General of Waste Management at the Ministry Rosa Vivien Ratnawati said that changing someone's mindset is not an easy feat and presents its own challenge when it comes to waste management.
"We have to change our mindset that we have to sort organic and inorganic waste at home," she said here on Tuesday.
The government has been consistently working to raise awareness so that people can independently manage waste at homes by sorting it, she added.
Waste from household kitchens needs to be sorted in order to make it easier for the next waste management process, she explained.
Ratnawati said that organic waste can be turned into compost to fertilize plants, and such waste can also be used to cultivate maggots to feed animals.
The ministry has estimated that 10.92 million tons of waste would not end up in landfills if citizens decide to make compost from food waste, and this could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6.8 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, she elaborated.
As for inorganic waste, people can recycle it and turn it into something else, like new plastic products, papers, metals, or glasses, she pointed out.
"Government digs into and pursues the reduce, reuse, and recycle strategy in order to reduce the burden on final processing, and manage waste using tech, sociocultural approach, elaboration on the green economy concept, supported by coherent policy and agency reinforcement," Ratnawati said.
According to data from the National Waste Management Information System (SIPSN), in 2022, Indonesia produced 68.5 million tons of waste, 18.5 percent of which was plastic waste.
The government is aiming to rid Indonesia of waste by targeting 30-percent waste reduction and 70-percent waste handling by 2025.
From June 13 to 16, 2023, the ministry is hosting the National Waste Festival in Jakarta. The event is meant to serve as a platform to seek solutions and formulate an action plan to reach the national target on emission reduction, resolve the waste issue in Indonesia, and improve the waste management sector's role in national economic growth as a manifestation of sustainable waste management.
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Translator: Sugiharto Purnama, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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