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