The Plastics Crisis in Indonesia: A Journey Through Polluted Waters
We drop anchor in the Indonesian port town of Kupang on the island of Timor. After six years spent at sea circumnavigating, these are the most polluted waters we’ve ever sailed in. A stream of plastic debris, stretching for miles, is heading towards us: noodle wrappers, a garden chair, and bin bags full of more plastic glide by.
Indonesia’s Invisible Waste Management Struggle
Beaches are speckled with colours and textures that don’t belong. Comprising more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia is a developing country without, in some places, comprehensive waste management systems or recycling infrastructure. The oversupply of single-use plastic by producers, coupled with tonnes of banned illegal plastic waste smuggled in by developed countries, is destroying its ecosystems.
The Devastation on Land
We hop into our dinghy to go ashore. Slamming over waves, we swerve to prevent a bundle of soiled nappies from becoming tangled in our propeller. At the water’s edge, a used sanitary pad floats by while an old phone battery twinkles in the sandy shallows.
Inside the Streets of Rural Indonesia
By taxi, we journey inland. Plastic waste is piled up along dusty roads. Rolls of sachets containing everything from sweets to shampoo hang conveniently from street vendors’ stalls. Here, where the median wage is equivalent to under €200 a month, producers target users with single portions that are perceived as more affordable.
The Global Plastic Problem
Even if this country were more developed, globally only an estimated 9 per cent of plastic ever produced has been recycled. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicts that without stronger policies, plastic production will increase by 70 per cent by 2040 from where it was in 2020.
Ireland’s Plastic Dilemma
In Ireland, we’re the largest producer of plastic packaging waste in the EU per head for the ninth year running. As a wealthy country, our recycling capability began with Repak in 1997, but in 2022 we only managed to recycle 6 per cent of plastic packaging waste domestically. We mostly incinerated the rest, but sent 26 per cent to the UK, the EU, and several developing countries. The EU and UK then re-export a large share of this type of waste to poorer countries , including Indonesia.
A Glimpse of Hope in Komodo
Continuing our journey west, we reach the islands of the Komodo national park. Safely anchored, we grab our masks and flippers and dive in. Thriving corals carpet the anchorage. A manta ray passes by effortlessly while several green sea turtles sit on the bottom chewing sea grass.
The Plastics Labyrinth
On the seabed running parallel to the beach, a regular pattern the size of an Olympic swimming pool catches my eye. I freedive down to see thousands of plastic cups. In the weeks that follow, I notice them everywhere with their plastic film lid and a straw covered in plastic wrap.
Rainy Season Worsens Waste Crisis
By November, it’s rainy season and we’re in Lombok. Heavy downpours wash rubbish from villages into rivers that carry it to the sea. Patches of water in our anchorage become thickly covered with white blobs of styrofoam, sachets, bags, and indecipherable fragments of plastic breaking down into microplastics.
