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Contribution Details

Type Master's Thesis
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title The plastic problem in South East Asia – case study of Indonesia and its way to a more sustainable waste management
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Margaux Frey
Supervisors
  • Michel Habib
  • Jacqueline Haverals
Language
  • English
Institution University of Zurich
Faculty Faculty of Business, Economics and Informatics
Number of Pages 90
Date 2017
Abstract Text Environmental pollution due to improper waste management is becoming a global issue. One of the main consequence is the ocean plastic pollution which is mainly due to land plastic leakage. At the current rate the amount of plastic debris will reach over 250 million metric tons by 2025. The sources of this plastic comes from all over the world but the 5 worst countries in terms of ocean plastic pollution are located in Asia. On this list Indonesia ranks second and is responsible for the addition of 0.5 to 1.20 million metric tons per year. Indonesia recognized the importance of improving their waste management system back in 2008 with the implementation of the new waste management law 18/2008. After an overview of the actual state of the waste management in Indonesia in terms of technological advancement, its legal and institutional environment as well as the financing behind it, this paper uses a statistical model serving the main objectives. The first is to identify the different factors influencing the amount of uncontrolled urban waste (urban waste not collected or not properly disposed of) in Indonesia and in five different sub-regions within the country. In a second time the same model is adapted in order to be able to assess the statistical significance of the implementation of the amount of uncontrolled urban waste of the new waste management law 18/2008 almost 10 years after its implementation. The main objectives of the waste law are also analysed in order to identify if those objectives have been met or not and the reasoning behind the different findings. The first analysis showed that one of the most important factors in terms of waste increase is the urban population increase. In addition, it allowed to identifying that PET plastic bottles are rather well recycled and are not a main driver of uncontrolled urban waste which is a surprising and encouraging finding. The second analysis showed that the waste law 18/2008 did not have a statistically significant impact on the reduction of uncontrolled urban waste. Nevertheless, a decreasing trend can be observed and different encouraging actions and improvements have already taken place. In the third chapter of the paper different new waste management technologies are presented with their individual suitability for the specificities of the Indonesian waste management system as well as the importance of higher interest in plastic recycling facilities. In addition, one of the findings is also that one of the reasons of the low performance of the new waste law 18/2008 is the lack of financial resources to properly implement sustainable waste management facilities. Furthermore, the most important factor is raising awareness about the consequences of non-proper waste management system on land as well as in the oceans. The need of changing the population’s habits in terms of waste generation and disposal is key to a more sustainable waste management industry in Indonesia.
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