Firms must be responsible in handling packaging waste

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post, Tuesday, June 25 2013

Despite the 2008 waste management law, hardly any companies committed to packaging waste management, acknowledged an Environment Ministry official.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR), is one of the crucial waste management paradigm shifts stipulated in Law No. 18/2008 that also requires individuals and communities to take responsibility through reusing, recycling and recovering waste.

After being ratified in November last year, the law’s implementing regulation, PP No. 81/2012, came into effect this year.

Deputy environment minister for environmental communication and community empowerment, Ilyas Asaad, urged companies to move beyond corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.

“We’ve seen more companies implementing CSR programs for environmental preservation. That’s a good thing. But companies must move beyond CSR. EPR is a responsibility that they must take. They need to see the difference,” Ilyas told Bali Daily recently on the sidelines of Bali’s Big Eco Weekend organized by Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia, Quiksilver and Garuda Indonesia on Kuta Beach.

“Companies in Indonesia have been asking for time, around 5 to 10 years, as a transition stage to realize EPR because it requires more funding. The government understands that. But we want to see that these companies are making some progress from year to year,” he said.

Ilyas acknowledged that a change in the waste handling paradigm, which previously was seen as an act of collecting and dumping waste at the landfill, required time. This was why awareness programs needed to be performed continuously.

Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia business services director Bruce Waterfield pointed out that over the years, the company’s main efforts in handling its waste were through ensuring that responsible waste disposal information was being communicated properly on product packaging.

“As we design the packaging, we include information on the side of the packaging because at the end of the day they have the bottle in their hands. The producer’s main responsibility is to communicate to the consumers, ‘What should you do once you consume the products?’”

When asked whether the company allocated special funding for the retrieval and recycling of its packaging waste, Waterfield only stated: “Our packaging department has a special budget to make sure that information on the packaging is taken care of correctly.”

“But internally, we also continuously look for innovative ways to reduce the amount of waste that we produce. Things like the weight of our bottles. In the last few years, we have been able to reduce the weight of our bottles, which actually means less waste,” he said.

Separately, bottled water company Danone Aqua has been implementing a CSR program providing social and welfare empowerment to around 5,000 scavengers in South Tangerang, Bandung and Bali since 2010.

“The key is providing price stability for plastic bottles they collect because they cooperate with a plastic reprocessing factory that is supported by Aqua,” said Danone Aqua’s PT Tirta Investama sustainable development director Sonny S Sukada.

“These approaches are made as our efforts to prepare for the implementation of the 2008 law. The government does not even have a roadmap but we already have. I believe we are one step forward,” said Sonny, while adding that the company also established a coalition for sustainable packaging with other brands, including Nestle, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Tetra Pak and Indofood.

Slowly but surely, Sonny said, the scavenger networks built by Aqua had been able to recycle 5 percent of the plastic bottles produced by the company. The company has set an initial target of engaging in the recycling process of around 10 percent of the plastic packaging it produces annually. Nevertheless, Danone Aqua was unable to disclose any figure on the volume of plastic used in the production of their bottles each year.

Creating added value from coconut shells

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post, Monday, June 17 2013

Discarded coconut shells are plentiful around Tanah Lot. Previously a headache for the destination management, now they generate additional income for local waste collectors.

Recently, Ni Wayan Nomer, 48, was trained to collect and process shredded coconut shells and sawdust, making the mixture into briquettes that can be sold as stove fuel.

Nomer expressed her hopes that the briquettes would bring extra income to keep the stove in her own home burning as well.

“We have been promised a share when the briquettes are sold to the public,” said Nomer, who has worked for 30 years as a trash picker at Tanah Lot in Beraban village, Tabanan regency. For extra income, she also collects and sells plastic trash and dried frangipani flowers picked up from around the 3.6-hectare area.

Tanah Lot, with its iconic temple perched atop a gigantic chunk of rock in the open sea, has long been a magnet for domestic and foreign tourists. Up to 8,000 visitors come on regular days, while in peak season over 10,000 visitors can throng around the destination.

However, waste is also a constant visitor, amounting to around 100 kilograms of plastic and other inorganic materials, as well as over 1,000 coconut shells; young coconut juice is a favorite beverage for visitors watching the sun set over Tanah Lot temple.

“We were overwhelmed with discarded coconut shells. Our waste collectors can only pick up a small number of them; they sell them to roof tile producers. By processing them into fuel briquettes, we hope to be able to create added value,” said Tanah Lot tourism destination manager, I Ketut Toya Adnyana. He estimated that a kilogram of briquettes could be worth Rp 4,000-5,000 (40-50 US cents), slightly higher than the usual wood charcoal.

“The Bali Hotels Association, under the Tri Hita Karana Foundation, has shown interest in purchasing the briquettes,” he said. He stated that 90 percent of the income would serve as revenue and business capital for the Gemaripah group, an acronym standing for Gerakan Masyarakat Mandiri Peduli Sampah (Independent Community Waste Movement). The group currently has 45 members mostly comprising the Tanah Lot management’s sanitation staff. Toya said that in future, the hundreds of snack and beverage vendors based at Tanah Lot, as well as the villagers of the 15 hamlets in Beraban village, would be expected to take part in the group’s activities.

The remaining 10 percent of the income is to be shared with Yayasan Kesejahteraan Korpri Bali and lecturers from Warmadewa University that have encouraged coconut shell briquette processing since 2011.

The processing was planned and financed by the corporate social responsibility program, Aqua Lestari, of bottled mineral water company, Aqua. In addition to establishing the Gemaripah group, the program also includes tree planting, training and workshops, purchasing coconut shredding machinery, equipment, dump trucks, and trash bins and trash carts.

Private sector sought for Trans Sarbagita investment

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Wednesday, May 15 2013

Since its launch in 2011, Bali’s first integrated public transportation system, Trans Sarbagita, has yet to attract private investors, a necessary factor to expand the network across the whole Sarbagita area, an acronym that stands for Denpasar city, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan regencies.

Until now, the two main Trans Sarbagita bus corridors, connecting Batubulan–Nusa Dua and Denpasar–Jimbaran, rely on the operation of 25 buses, all of which were donated by the Transportation Ministry.

While the ministry expects this grant of buses to stimulate each of the respective areas and the province to be proactive in its own expansion, Bali still faces investment hurdles to develop the bus rapid transit system, which is expected to have 17 corridors by 2019.

“It is hard to find private investors willing to invest not just in Badung but also in Bali because it’s difficult for them to measure the breakeven point investing in transportation. If there are any, most of them are large companies already established in Java,” Badung transportation agency’s head of public transport division Made Widiana told Bali Daily.

Aiming to establish a more integrated network through Trans Sarbagita, Badung administration cooperates with a Cikarang, West Java-based minibus operator to run 14 feeder minibuses along two routes, while Denpasar administration also works with local enterprises that operate 48 modified, old minibuses on four routes. Badung allocated Rp 3.7 billion (US$378,000), while Denpasar earmarked Rp 5 billion, annually for the operational costs of these routes.

The provincial administration has similarly purchased third-party transportation services from state-owned public transportation company DAMRI and local firm Restu Mulya for the main Trans Sarbagita corridors. This year, the province has allocated around Rp 9 billion for the operation and maintenance of its two existing corridors.

“The private sector may have been willing to invest as a service operator, but so far no one has been interested in placing multifold investments for bus procurement,” said Bali Transportation Agency head Dewa Putu Punia Asa, who recently publicly urged more investors to join the administration in developing Trans Sarbagita.

Despite the steadily increasing average number of daily passengers, from 1,508 people per day in 2011 to 2,886 in 2012, Punia still argued that the public’s decades-old dependency on motorcycles and private vehicles made it difficult for the public and investors alike to fully embrace public transportation now.

Director of Urban Transport System Development at the Land Transportation Directorate General in the Transportation Ministry, Djoko Saksono, emphasized an equally crucial factor for the successful implementation of public transportation: a proactive effort from the local administrations to convince the private sector to jointly develop the transport system.

“The local administrations in Bali have to invest not just capital but also policies that are in favor of public transportation, while providing protection and comfort for the users. To successfully implement public transportation, supporting facilities must go hand-in-hand. That includes making available adequate sidewalks and banning on-street parking that clearly disrupts the Trans Sarbagita buses when operating along the routes,” Djoko told Bali Daily on Tuesday.

Previously, the president of Indonesia Transportation Society, Danang Parikesit, had also urged the central government to increase the fiscal capacity of local administrations by allocating some of the savings made from the fuel subsidy reduction to support the self-financing of provincial and regional urban transportation development.

“The government must set a clear plan so when it decides to reduce the fossil fuel subsidy, it will simultaneously boost investment in the transportation sector. The government needs to increase the fiscal capacity of local administrations so they can use more of their regional budget to self-finance in developing their urban transport sector,” said Danang.

“It’s impossible for the ministry to continuously subsidize buses for the 400 cities and regencies nationwide to develop their transport sector,” he declared.

Bicycle lanes dying out due to lack of leadership

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Saturday, May 04 2013

Denpasar may have initiated bicycle lanes in some parts of the city since 2009, however, the eco-friendly mode of transport appears to be dying out, as further development and maintenance has not been carried out since 2010.

Since the Car Free Day launch in Renon in 2009, bicycle lanes throughout Denpasar remain the same length of 16.4 kilometers, with many of the lanes and traffic markers fading away due to the lack of maintenance. The bicycle lanes comprise roughly around 4 percent of the capital’s more than 470 km of streets.

“There has not been any maintenance budget for the bike lanes in the past few years. However, this year, we expect to get some Rp 100-200 million (US$10,250-$20,500) from the revised provincial budget,” Denpasar Transportation Agency’s traffic division head Nyoman Sustiawan told Bali Daily on Friday.

Nyoman said: “The sum will be used for maintenance of the fading lanes and maybe extending the lanes to a length of some 20 km.” More lanes would be made in specific areas that have schools, tourist destinations, markets or shopping outlets.

The upcoming lanes are expected along Jl. Gunung Agung, Jl. Teuku Umar and Jl. Imam Bonjol. Nevertheless, Nyoman said developing bicycle lanes was hard to implement due to the limited space and motorized vehicles commonly parking along public streets. “We are unable to enforce regulations that ban on-street parking, because we receive little backup from the traffic police,” he said.

“Most walkways also end up as parking space anyway,” he said. Among the streets in Denpasar that are equipped with quite generous pedestrian walkways are Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Kamboja –regretfully both of which have turned into parking lots.

Bali Transport Agency recorded in 2011 that Bali was home to 2.35 million motorized vehicles –motorcycles and cars, around 1.9 million of which were focused around Denpasar city and Badung regency.

The neighboring regency, Badung, also faces similar traffic headaches, especially in the crowded tourist areas along Jl. Pantai Kuta and Jl. Legian. Reportedly, the Badung Transportation Agency expects to implement zoning rules for vehicle parking in the overcrowded areas.

At the Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum held in Bali recently, executive director of Jakarta-based Leaded Gasoline Eradication Committee (KPBB) Ahmad Puput Safrudin highlighted the urgency of enhancing urban walkability in many of Indonesia’s cities.

“There is an urgent need to reclaim pedestrianized areas, such as Taman Fatahillah in Jakarta, the Kuta tourism area in Bali, Malioboro street in Yogyakarta, Cihampelas in Bandung and many others. The presence of reliable and accessible public minibuses is crucial to successfully enhance urban walkability,” he said.

Puput cited a success story from a similar tourist destination in Thailand, Pattaya Beach, where the administration managed rid the area of traffic congestion by strictly banning private vehicles from the area.

“Unlike Kuta Beach, where private vehicles rule the streets, tourists visiting the streets of Pattaya can walk or rely on public transport,” he said.

Michael Replogle, the founder and managing director for policy at the Washington DC-based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), also stated that even in a city as advanced as New York, changes had been made to accommodate more pedestrian zones and less car traffic, by learning from best practices in Paris, as well as Chinese cities that have their own public bicycle system.

“Some of the biggest streets in New York, like Broadway, have been closed to car traffic. It used to be very congested but now large parts are pedestrian zones with bike paths, and tables and chairs for people to sit out and enjoy the green space and parks in the city. Right through the heart of Times Square, the densest part of Manhattan, is now partially a pedestrian zone.”

“Jakarta, Manado, Denpasar could easily develop public bike systems and allocate more space to bicycles to make it more attractive for people to ride bicycles in the city and to make it safer to cross the street. But this requires political leadership and developing leadership coalitions between businesses, civil society and government. It could be done in a single mayor’s term of office. With leadership, important changes can be made in the right direction,” assured Replogle.

Vehicle quotas crucial for sustainable transportation

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Saturday, April 27 2013

The seventh Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum in Asia in Nusa Dua, Bali, concluded on Thursday with a commitment by Asian countries to implement sustainable transportation systems with the signing of the Bali Declaration on Vision Three Zeros — Zero Congestion, Zero Pollution and Zero Accidents.

The international forum welcomed representatives from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, India, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam, as well as international organizations, bilateral and multilateral agencies, NGOs, research organizations and sustainable transportation professionals.

Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) founder and managing director for policy Michael Replogle underlined that among several crucial sustainable transportation measures to realize the Vision Three Zeros was the implementation of a vehicle quota system.

“The automotive industry has a lot of political and economic power in Indonesia. I think every place that is dealing with this issue has to deal with the politics in its own way. It takes political leadership,” Replogle told Bali Daily.

“Shanghai, for example, is a major center of vehicle manufacturing, yet it was the first city in China to adopt a motor vehicle quota. And they have succeeded; as Shanghai has had a motor vehicle quota for the past 15-20 years, they have been able to limit the growth of traffic to half of what it would have been had they pursued an non-managed motorized vehicle policy,” said Replogle.

He also cited China’s capital, Beijing, known for its horrendous traffic congestion, which has in the past year adopted a motor vehicle quota, while India’s government has also taken steps to encourage larger cities like Delhi, Chennai and Ahmedabad to adopt a vehicle quota system and traffic management system.

 “It is timely for Indonesia, to manage car use before there’s no way back. Indonesia’s city leaders, civil society and business leaders need to find ways to work together and overcome the political challenges and to adopt these policies to strengthen the economy and the environment. This will be in Indonesia’s long-term interest to make it an attractive place to invest and do business,” urged Replogle.

After decades of heavy reliance on roads and motorized vehicles as the country’s backbone of land transportation, Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono acknowledged that it was high time for cities nationwide to develop integrated transportation systems that did not solely depend on roads.

“We have started to massively reduce the load on roads by developing railways and sea transportation that will connect the coasts of our archipelago,” said Bambang.

Citing World Bank data showing that Indonesia’s medium-sized cities with populations above 500,000 displayed the greatest economic growth, of around 7 percent annually, Bambang added: “We are accelerating the development of mass transportation systems in our 14 major cities. Soon, we will also perform those measures in other medium-sized cities, so that it will not be too late for them.”

Bali itself was among the places backed by the ministry to initiate its own integrated mass transportation system, called Trans Sarbagita, in late-2011. The Trans Sarbagita public transportation system recorded 2,886 passengers daily in 2012, and is estimated to have reduced the number of motorcycles roaming the roads of southern Bali by 1,449 per day.

However, the head of Bali’s Transportation Agency, Dewa Putu Punia Asa, expressed his doubts on the implementation of Vision Three Zeros. “Our regional revenue comes mainly from motorized vehicles, which are the main source of pollution and congestion. Meanwhile, the central government has not applied any quota on motorized vehicles marketed in this country.”

Around 80 percent of Bali’s annual revenue comes from motorized vehicle taxes.

Since 2009, Indonesia has set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 41 percent by 2020. The target was internationally announced by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the G20 Pittsburgh Summit back in 2009. Indonesia is regarded as a major emitter of greenhouse gases due to its heavy dependence on fossil fuels, especially in the transportation sector.

Bali needs integrated transport system

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Tuesday, April 23 2013

Focusing on developing an integrated multi-mode public transportation system for the growing major cities and regencies across the archipelago, including Denpasar and Badung in southern Bali, the Transportation Ministry expects the regional administrations to take a larger role in developing their own sustainable urban transport systems.

“At present, Bali still has very limited public transportation. Nonetheless, we have initiated the Trans Sarbagita [in 2011] and we expect it to develop and integrate with railways and intelligent transportation systems to reduce traffic congestion,” Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono said on Monday on the sidelines of the Indonesia Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum, a pre-event for the seventh Asia Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum on April 23-25 that will be held in Nusa Dua.

“We understand that this requires behavioral change, which is not easy. We are currently at the stage of a pre-feasibility study to develop the railways, which would both connect the entire island and its urban areas,” he added.

An integrated multi-mode public transportation system involving buses and railways is believed to be the most sustainable public transport solution.

“In major cities, with more than 1 million population, an integrated system between urban railways and rapid transit buses like the Trans Solo, Trans Semarang, Trans Bandung, Trans Kawanu and Trans Sarbagita systems, is the most feasible to implement sustainable transport,” Bambang said.

Bali’s capital city, Denpasar, and its neighboring regency, Badung, are home to a rapidly growing population, respectively 788,445 people and 543,332, according to the national census in 2010. Denpasar Mayor Ida Bagus Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra once estimated that during the daytime, around 1.5 million people travelled around Denpasar.

The ministry’s director general of railways, Tundjung Inderawan, stated that either a monorail or light train were viewed as the most feasible transportation systems to be developed for Bali.

“Either the monorail or the light train, it must be integrated with the bus routes, to Ngurah Rai airport and Benoa harbor, as well as [tourist destinations] like Nusa Dua, Kuta, Seminyak and Sanur,” said Tundjung.

“Basically, the local administration has positively welcomed this plan. But the administration does not stand alone. Wide acceptance from local society is the key to make this plan work,” emphasized Tundjung, who estimated that the railway plan for Bali might still need another five years to be realized.

Meanwhile, Bambang also highlighted the urgency for the local administrations to take a greater degree of responsibility in developing their own urban transport system.

“In principle, the development of public transport is the responsibility of the local administrations. As the central government, we will help them initiate the system, provide technical support and further reward them, for example with bus grants, if the administrations display serious commitment,” said Bambang.

Nationwide, there have been 14 major cities developing their own BRT (bus rapid transport) system: Jakarta, Tangerang, Solo, Semarang, Bandarlampung, Palembang, Yogyakarta, Badung, Bogor, Pekanbaru, Gorontalo, Batam, Manado and Ambon.

The development of integrated mass transportation systems for cities around the archipelago is part of the government’s effort to fulfill its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 41 percent by 2020, a pledge made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the G20 Pittsburgh Summit back in 2009. Indonesia has been viewed as a relatively major emitter of greenhouse gases due to its heavy dependency on fossil fuels, especially in the transportation sector.

According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2011, the transport sector produces 30 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and 23 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions. Land transportation contributes the largest amount at 89 percent, followed by sea transport (6 percent), air transport (4 percent) and railways (1 percent).

President of Indonesia’s Transportation Society, Danang Parikesit, stated that the ambitious target would only be achieved if the government implemented integrated policies in the sectors of transport and energy.

“The 26 percent reduction in emissions is almost impossible if Indonesia does not create joint-policies in the transport and energy sectors. The government must set a clear plan so that when it decides to reduce fossil fuel subsidies, it will simultaneously boost investment in the transportation sector. The government needs to increase the fiscal capacity of the local administrations so that they can use more of their regional budget to self-finance the development of their urban transport sectors,” said Danang.

Let the trash battle begin

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Monday, March 11 2013

While the Balinese Hindu faithful perform a series of religious rites to welcome their sacred Day of Silence, or Nyepi, which is fast approaching, the capital city Denpasar will again silently fight its largest battle of the year — against trash. 

“Indeed it’s true. We fight our largest war against garbage every year during the Nyepi holidays,” head of trash collection services at the Denpasar Sanitation Agency Nyoman Astawa told Bali Daily on Saturday.

He acknowledged that the trash accumulated through the days of Nyepi’s series of various rituals, including Melasti (the purification), Pengerupukan (the battle against evil) and Ngembak Geni (family gathering) amounted to the largest quantity compared to that produced during other Balinese Hindu religious days, like Kuningan and Galungan.

On regular days, Denpasar produces around 2,500 cubic meters (cbm) of garbage. Astawa estimated the accumulation of trash throughout the Nyepi holidays could reach up to 6,000 cbm per day, mostly in the form of religious offerings, the remains of the ogoh-ogoh effigies burnt during the night of Pengerupukan, and household waste, both organic and inorganic.

About 4 to 5 cubic meters of trash equals 1 ton.

Manager of Cemara waste depot in Sanur Kaja village in Denpasar, Made Sunarta, recently said: “I’m having a headache with the growing amount of trash. This upcoming Nyepi, the accumulation of trash will be at its worst, as my staff will all be off for the holidays.”

During religious days, the depot usually takes at least twice the daily volume of 8 cbm of trash, equivalent to the capacity of four garbage trucks.

As Melasti already started on Friday, the volume of trash, especially along the beaches of Denpasar —Sanur, Padanggalak and Mertasari, was up to 120 cbm, triple the norm.

Nevertheless, Astawa gave his assurances that the Denpasar Sanitation and Parks Agency was ready to battle the trash. “We will deploy our emergency squads to handle the trash produced during Pengerupukan night. They will work all out until dawn on Nyepi and work again from early morning the day after Nyepi to ensure the streets are clear of rubbish,” said Astawa.

Squads of 600 sweepers and a battalion of 1,000 garbage collectors will be cleaning up the trash on 113 streets around Denpasar. The garbage collection battalion is equipped with a total of 19 garbage trucks with a capacity of up to 12 cbm each. These vehicles are deployed by both the sanitation and parks divisions at the agency.

“This is truly a war. That’s why we call our guys the emergency troops and battalion,” Astawa said.

When asked whether the local communities themselves would engage in the cleanup after the rituals, Astawa said: “Well, we cooperate with a few traditional villages, such as Sanur and Kesiman, to clean up the beaches. On a daily basis, we have also urged the residents to initiate community-based waste management and to reduce plastic use when performing their rituals.”

“But we have to understand that this is how the religious rites have always been performed in Bali. We can’t demand much from the residents. Instead, the administration is adapting to the way the Balinese perform these traditions,” said Astawan, who is also a senior pemangku (temple priest) in his village in Canggu, which is in the neighboring regency, Badung.

Last year, reportedly, a troop of 1,500 street sweepers and trash collectors were sent out. Yet, piles of trash equivalent to some four garbage trucks were left unpicked and scattered in the Sesetan area, as well as suburban streets like Jl. Gunung Agung, Jl. Supratman Timur and Jl. A. Yani.

Anyone care to join this year’s trash battle, then?