August 22, 2025 | 12:43 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Greenpeace Indonesia said waste banks are not the key to addressing plastic pollution. Atha Rasyadi, the Head of the Social and Economic Campaign Team of Greenpeace Indonesia, emphasizes that while waste banks do serve a function, their role is limited.
"Waste banks are only a small part of the solution that the government must undertake," said Atha when contacted by Tempo on Friday, August 15, 2025.
Referring to the waste management hierarchy, Atha said Indonesia's priority must lie on upstream reduction and reuse solutions.
The Greenpeace campaigner maintained that not all types of waste can be managed and absorbed through waste banks. "Especially since most waste banks are managed by community groups with limited resources," he added.
Atha emphasized that the more impactful efforts lie in managing organic waste or household litter, as they contribute to almost half of the total waste volume and therefore should be prioritized for handling. "And this fits better with community-based compost management models," he continued.
The success of waste banks should be measured by clear indicators, such as the amount of waste produced and disposed of in landfills. "The presence of waste banks in certain regions must reduce these numbers. From there, we can see their significant impact."
Data from the National Waste Bank Information System (SIBSN) as of February 2025 noted that there are 371 main waste banks and 24,893 units with more than 892 thousand active customers in 447 regencies/cities.
At the same time, Indonesia is among the 145 countries that have adopted an international agreement to end plastic pollution through the Global Plastics Treaty. This commitment emphasizes the importance of systemic transition in waste management, from upstream to downstream.
The government also emphasized that waste banks cannot be the sole solution to addressing the plastic issue, but should be part of an integrated waste management system based on a circular economy.
Erik Teguh Primiantoro, Expert Staff for International Relations and Environmental Diplomacy at the Ministry of Environment (KLH), mentioned that waste banks play a crucial part in the discussions at the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) 5.2 in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 5-13, 2025. These discussions refer to The Chair Text of December 2024 and the Revised Chair Text resulting from INC 5.2.
"Waste banks in the context of INC-5.2 become part of waste management, especially related to Indonesia's circular economy," said Erik when contacted by Tempo on Thursday, August 21, 2025.
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