Sustainability of plastic waste management through voluntary initiatives: A case study in Indonesia

Abstract

The plastic pollution crisis has resulted in the establishment of many voluntary plastic waste initiatives in Southeast Asia, where most of the plastic leakage occurs. This study aims to assess the sustainability of four types of voluntary, partly or fully externally funded plastic waste initiatives within Indonesia’s current waste management system and anticipate challenges that can arise in the future. The research used the qualitative approach of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and Internal and External Factors Analysis framework to evaluate the initiatives’ techno-economic, socio-cultural, legislative and environmental sustainability. The results showed that three out of four types of plastic waste initiatives were in the diversification quadrant, and one type was in the survival quadrant. The unfavoured position of the initiatives in the quadrant is mainly due to important regulatory gaps in Indonesia and the lack of a stable funding mechanism. The appropriate strategy for the voluntary plastic waste initiatives to be self-sustainable and a catalyst for sustainable national waste management is to exert pressure on the government to establish an institutionalised and legislated waste management system and endorse a mandatory implementation of the polluter pays principle. Otherwise, improving waste management systems in Indonesia at the macro level could be challenging to achieve.

Keywords

• waste management
• plastics pollution
• plastic waste recycling