City of fine, city of mine Aretha Aprilia  ;   A researcher and lecturer at Surya University, Serpong, Tangerang

JAKARTA POST,  03 Mei 2014

                                                

                                                                                         

                                                      

We just have joined the worldwide call for environmental awareness during Earth Week 2014, which aimed at reassessing our way of life as part of a wider effort to ensure sustainability. When the discourse of environment is in the limelight, the first thing that crosses our minds is the notion of a clean and green environment. However, achieving a clean environment is not simply about putting your trash into the waste bin. Citizens must understand where the waste is disposed of and how the various types are treated afterward. At present, the main method of treatment for Jakarta’s waste is through unsanitary landfills at Bantar Gebang, Bekasi. Careless disposal of waste has been touted as one of the main causes of the flooding that has frequented Jakarta. Recognizing the various issues from improper waste treatment, a variety of bottom-up initiatives related to community-based waste management had widely proliferated in Indonesia. A while ago a young doctor from the city of Malang in East Java, Gamal Albinsaid, received the “Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneurs Award” from the Prince of Wales. He successfully implemented the “Waste Insurance” program, which is a micro-insurance program that essentially provides people with health insurance in exchange for household waste they collect. This program is a form of advancement from the primary concept of “Waste Banks” that has been widely implemented in many cities in Indonesia. In Jakarta, there are over 100 areas where the waste bank has been initiated, but some have failed due to various reasons. Thus the “waste insurance” program is a smart “pull-factor” to encourage people to actively engage in at-source sorting to support the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) initiatives. Waste actually contains great economic potential but is still underestimated by most Indonesians. My study in 2012 found that nearly 60 percent of total household waste in Jakarta was organic, meaning it could be composted, while inorganic waste that could be recycled reached over 20 percent. In economic terms, there is potential revenue of US$115 million per annum from the sales of Jakarta’s recyclable inorganic waste. Given the ever-increasing growth of the Indonesian economy, coupled with the rapidly rising expensive land prices; waste incineration for energy generation is a logical alternative. Yet there are large portions of organic wet waste generated by Indonesians, and people in general are reluctant to sort waste at-source. These circumstances inhibit the application of incineration, which is technically more effective to treat dry waste. The UN Environment Program (UNEP) also stated that incineration is generally not feasible to be applied in non-Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries due to the high cost and the countries’ composition of waste that is not suitable for incineration. So what are the options for Indonesia? In addition to conventional top-down strategies, innovations are needed; both from the aspect of financing and implementation. State-private partnerships are a necessity. Innovative implementation with end-users shall be coupled with incentive elements. The initiatives such as “waste insurance” and “waste banks” are some concrete examples. In addition, market-based instruments, which are the policy instruments that use economic variables to provide disincentives for polluters, are also noteworthy. Recently, there has been a constant buzz that the Jakarta administration will start to seriously enforce Bylaw No. 3/2013 on Waste Management. Both the governor and vice governor have declared a “war on waste” as of 2014. Citizens who are caught littering will be fined Rp 500,000 (US$43.4) whereas the industrial sector would face Rp 50 million for the same violation. Bandung however, ridiculed by many due to its unclean environment, will not follow suit in the near future. Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil says fines cannot be implemented in the near future due to technical reasons, such as difficulties in monitoring citizens who litter. The question now is whether imposing a fine for littering will be effective to ensure clean cities. Referring to Singapore, one of the cleanest cities in the world, the fines are considered successful in discouraging littering The Singapore National Environment Agency recently considered higher fines and tougher penalties for citizens who litter. Currently litterbugs are fined up to S$300. Recalcitrants brought to court can be fined up to S$1,000 for the first offence and up to S$ 5,000 for repeat offences. They can also be ordered to pick up litter in public for up to 12 hours (Sunday Times, Oct. 29, 2013). The state of Illinois in the US and Victoria in Australia, have deemed littering a criminal offense and punishable by fine. Law enforcement is therefore an important element to ensure the successful implementation of policies against polluters. Yet concerted efforts of citizen participation through various programs of community-based waste management should not be underrated. ●