CCBO 3R/SWM and Marine Debris Strategy Alignment Assessment – Indonesia

Indonesia is an archipelagic country consisting of roughly 17,000 islands and 81,000 kilometers of coastlines. As the fourth most populous country on earth, Indonesia is experiencing rapid economic expansion and increasing urbanization, and the nation produces 64 million metric tons of municipal waste each year.1 As this growth continues, it is estimated that between 2017 and 2025, marine debris leakage will increase by 30%, with roughly 780,000 tons of plastic entering Indonesia’s waterways per year.2 This projection poses a significant threat to the health and safety of Indonesian people, and it also incites economic concern. The livelihood of many Indonesian people is reliant on the fishing industry, and plans are being made to expand Indonesia’s tourism industry, which is largely dependent on clean coastal waters. As such, the need to manage plastic waste is paramount to the health and economic wellbeing of Indonesia’s populations, who face increased risk of illness when waste is mismanaged, and whose positionality as coastal communities make them increasingly vulnerable to flood-related disasters exacerbated by mismanaged waste.

In 2017, Indonesia’s government released the National Plan of Action for Combating Marine Plastic Debris (NPOA-CMPD), which aims to reduce marine plastic debris by 70% by 2025. The NPOA-CMPD plan focuses on improving public awareness to inspire social and behavior change (SBC), reducing both land and sea-based leakage, reducing plastic use and production, and improving existing infrastructure between 2017 and 2025.3 While the NPOA-CMPD plan is a comprehensive step towards mitigating marine debris leakage, there are significant gaps between government goals and the ability of local municipalities to reach them. The NPOA-CMPD plan is funded through national and regional budgets but is also dependent on funding from international partners and organizations. While this approach is more collaborative, it provides room for discrepancies in how policy and subsequent actions are implemented regionally, thereby clouding any one unified trajectory or plan.

The Government of Indonesian is also currently developing a waste management system platform, the Indonesia Solid Waste Management (ISWM) Platform, which is planned to be stipulated in a Presidential Decree. The purpose of this platform is to synchronize the national waste management system, provide a framework and guidelines for a sustainable waste management system, and establish a policy basis for waste management innovation. Consultations with key national stakeholder are still ongoing (as of early 2021). The final document is expected to publicly released in 2021.

In August 2019, Tetra Tech was awarded the Clean Cities, Blue Ocean (CCBO) Program, a five-year, $48 million contract from the U.S. Agency for International Development Bureau of Economic Growth, Education, and Environment. CCBO is the Agency’s flagship program to respond to the global crisis of marine plastic pollution and includes Indonesia as one of its seven focal countries. CCBO’s objectives share alignment with Indonesia’s recent commitments, including the NPOA-CMPD. To inform CCBO’s approach, the program has produced this 3R/SWM and Marine Debris Reduction Strategy for Indonesia to highlight the ways in which CCBO can support existing marine debris strategies and to provide recommendations for increased impact.