Kuta, Bali, February 3, 2022 – Let's Do Recycling Program (in Bahasa: YYADU!), an educational program on sustainable plastic waste management arranged by PT Trinseo Materials Indonesia, again held a webinar to increase literacy on the importance of source-based waste management and sorting.
After almost two years of facing the Covid-19 pandemic, Indonesia, especially Bali, the largest tourism center in Indonesia, has reopened the border to welcome domestic and foreign tourists. Although the occupancy rate of hotels in Bali is still considered low until October 2021, Bali has made preparations to welcome back foreign tourists.
"We believe that when the tourism business returns to normal, with the preparation that we are doing now, we will be ready to welcome tourists back to Bali," opened Ratna Soebrata, Head of International Cooperation Development Division Bali Tourism Board (BTB).
The webinar session hosted by Hanggara Sukandar, Sustainability Director of Responsible Care® Indonesia, was held in Kuta, Bali, and attended by Drs. I Made Teja, Head of the Bali Province Environment Agency. Also present were Ratna Soebrata, Head of the International Cooperation Development Division of the Bali Tourism Board, and Putu Ivan Yunatana as the Founder of the Bali Waste Cycle and Chairman of the Regional Representative Council of Indonesian Waste Entrepreneurs Association.
Bali is greatly affected by the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, Bali has made a lot of adjustments, starting from implementing protocols to ensure tourists safely arrived in Bali; arranging flight promotions with the airlines; until hotel promotions with a special rate compared to general rates before the pandemic hits.
"For people outside Bali who work in Bali, initially they rent a boarding house with a monthly cost of 5 million rupiahs, whereas, now they can find many hotels with more facilities by the availability of weekly rates. We did this to bring back tourists, especially tourists, which we realize is one of Bali's hopes," Ratna responded to Work From Bali Trend.
Drs. I Made Teja, Head of the Bali Province Environment Agency who was also present at the webinar, gave a presentation and explained, "The existence of a lockdown regulation that reduces outdoor activities very takes effect with the increase in waste, especially PS Foam or Styrofoam waste.”
The waste management policy stated in Governor Regulation 47 of 2019 regarding source-based waste management mentions that waste producers in managing waste at the source must use packaging that can be recycled and easily decomposed. The increase in PS Foam waste during the pandemic is in line with the rise in food delivery caused by restrictions on activities outside the home.
This situation occurred because food vendors needed a hygiene food container / packaging to keep it safe from various contaminants during the pandemic. With types of food packaging available, food vendors choose packaging which is effective in keeping food during delivery and economical in terms of cost. One of them is PS Foam packaging which is reliable in maintaining the safety of its consumers. In addition, food packaging made from PS Foam is very affordable from an economic point of view.
In addition to the hygienic factor, PS Foam is the right choice for sustainable recycling because Polystyrene can be 100% recycled to its raw material. The technology has already been introduced and is operational in the US. By choosing a material to recycle, Polystyrene becomes something that has both a green and economic impact.
The reopening of the border for foreign tourists soon will affect waste production in Bali. Therefore, holistic waste management is needed as a form of preparation to welcome back the tourists.
"The Governor Regulation regarding source-based waste sorting makes it very easy for us as recyclers because the management and sorting process is done from the upstream. If the waste management is proper, it will add an economic value to the waste itself," Putu Ivan Yunatana, Founder of the Bali Waste Cycle and Chairman of the Regional Representative Council of Indonesian Waste Entrepreneurs Association, conveyed.
The old paradigm of the linear economy is explained by Putu Ivan, that the process of waste management begins with collecting, transporting, and disposing of it in a landfill. This paradigm causes new problems, in which there is less and less land available for landfill. So, the solution to it is understanding the new paradigm of the circular economy, starting with sorting waste, collecting waste, then continuing with the recycling process.
"If the implementation of waste management from the source is going well, people's perspective on plastic waste, especially PS, must be changed, that this waste is the raw material for the industry. Our task as a community is to sort it properly to ease the next step, transporting it to the recycling industry. Thus we can achieve a circular economy, and waste will no longer be left unmanaged in the surrounding environment," said Putu Ivan closing the YYADU webinar session.
