bracsip - parliament of victoria · table 2. unsorted waste and scrap paper increased 2014 – 2019...

$: BRACSIP - Parliament of Victoria · Table 2. Unsorted Waste and Scrap Paper Increased 2014 – 2019 . YEAR yearly increase unsorted scrap paper import (times) fraction unsorted scrap$
BRACSIP Brantas River Coalition

To Stop Imported Plastic

Office: Desa Wringinanom RT 01 RW 05 Wringinanom Gresik East Java Indonesia 61176 Phone +6281703921499 Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Parliamentary Committee Parliament of Victoria Australia

Subject: Inquiry into Recycling and Waste Management

Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing to submit inquiry into recycling and waste management as invited by the Australian Green Party. I am Prigi Arisandi, the coordinator of BRACSIP or Brantas River Coalition to Stop Imported Plastic, we are based in Gresik East Java Indonesia. We demand Australian Government to stop exporting unsorted waste and scrap paper to paper factories in Indonesia. We assume that unsorted waste and scrap paper contains high contamination of plastic waste and other municipal wastes. According to Indonesian Central Statistical Bureau data, there are 4 types of waste paper has been imported from Australia by paper factories in East Java Province, with HSCODE shown in Table 1. The import of unsorted waste and scrap paper is assumed to contain high contamination of plastic scrap waste from Australia that received by paper factories in East Java Province as raw material in paper production.

Table 1. HSCODE of waste paper imported to East Java Province HSCODE Category Waste Paper Description

47071000

Waste Paper

Recovered (waste and scrap) unbleached kraft paper or paperboard or corrugated paper or paperboard

47072000 Recovered (waste and scrap) other paper or paperboard made mainly of bleached chemical pulp, not coloured in the mass

47073000 Paper or paperboard made mainly of mechanical pulp (for example, newspapers, journals and similar printed matter)

47079000 Unsorted Scrap Paper

Recovered unsorted waste &scrap paper & paperboard for paper making purpose

Figure 1. Total net weight of Australian waste paper import to East Java 2014 – Januari 2019

RWM - Submission 638

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Indonesian ministry of trade has agreement with association of pulp and paper factory (APKI) to include imported waste paper in the list of green line commodity, and APKI guarantee that the waste paper contamination will be less than 5%, thus the waste paper pass customs without detail inspection. However, there is regulation by Indonesia Ministry of Trade that prohibits import of mix municipal waste to Indonesia. Unfortunately, the contamination level in waste paper imported by paper factories in East Java can 30%, and its clearly mix municipal waste, such as flexible packaging of daily house consumer goods, thus it has to be considered illegal to enter Indonesia.

The unsorted waste and scrap paper export from Australia has been increasing since 2017 with total net weight 4.794 tonnes or 47,5 times bigger than in 2016 with 101 tonnes. The fraction of unsorted scrap paper to waste paper import was highly increased from 0,4% in 2016 to 18.7% in 2017, to 36,1% in 2018 and increased amazingly to 171,3% in Januari 2019. Before 2019, the net weight of unsorted scrap paper import was less than net weight of waste paper import, but shockingly, data in January 2019 showed that net weight ofunsorted waste scrap paper import was bigger than waste paper import. This data indicates that enormous increased of unsorted scrap paper import from Australia has flooding East Java with plastic waste contaminants that smuggled through waste paper import.

Table 2. Unsorted Waste and Scrap Paper Increased 2014 – 2019

YEAR yearly increase unsorted scrap paper import (times)

fraction unsorted scrap paper to waste paper import (%)

2014 0 0.6

2015/2014 13 4.9

2016/2015 0 0.4

2017/2016 48 18.7

2018/2017 3 36.1

Jan-19/ 2018 monthly 4 171.3

High unsorted waste contamination in waste paper bales imported from Australia has increased

plastic wastes and scraps produced by paper factories. Some of plastic waste types are

recyclable and have economic value, thus paper factories sell the plastic waste contaminants to

the waste collectors in the nearby community. Unfortunately, the plastic waste sorting and

recycling process is done with lack of knowledge and awareness of local community for

environmental and health protection. After collecting recyclable and valuable plastic the

leftover residual plastic scraps usually being dumped front yard of community houses, such as

in Bangun Village Mojokerto, where most of villagers work as plastic waste collectors from

several paper factories such as PT PAKERIN, PT ADIPRIMA, PT SUPARMA, PT MEGA SURYA


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ERATAMA, PT SURABAYA MEKABOX, etc. Most of residual non valuable plastic scraps are being

burned or sell as fuel to tofu making home industries. Local waste collectors in nearby

community usually dumped plastic waste scraps on the riverbanks of Brantas, destroying

riparian habitat and polluting Brantas River with plastic scraps, toxic ashes, and micro-plastic

particles.

Everyday a paper factory can sell plastic waste scraps 20 trucks with capacity 7 m3 to the local

waste collectors at price 1,6 million rupiah, that the factory employees can earn additional

income about 32 million rupiahs per day. The additional income from selling plastic waste

contaminants has been seen as economic benefit by paper factories, that they do not complain

on increased of high contamination in waste paper bales received by paper factories, some

companies thinks the complain process will be complicated, takes time and additional costs

that they do not want to take the risks. This situation also caused by lack of control of

Indonesian Customs at the shipping port and environmental protection agency on waste

management by the paper factories.

Recently Australia and Indonesia together with other countries joined as signatories of

amendment Basel Convention that agreed to include plastic waste in a legally binding

framework which will make global trade in plastic waste more transparent and better

regulated, whilst also ensuring that its management is safer for human health and the

environment. Plastic waste exporters in country of origin have to send notice to imported

country prior to sending plastic wastes and guarantee that the receiving countries have capacity

to recycle all waste exported in environmentally sound management.

Through this inquiry, we demand The Government of Australia as civilized developed country

who has higher capacity in waste recycling and management than Indonesia, to do following

actions:

a. Stop export unsorted waste and scrap paper with high contamination on plastic wastes

and other municipal wastes.

b. Enforce strict inspection and control on Australian waste exporters, so that waste paper

exported to Indonesia should maintain plastic contamination less than 5%.

c. Enforce agreement of Basel Convention Amendment that include plastic waste in a

legally binding framework, that level of plastic waste contamination in waste paper

bales and amount of plastic waste export by Australian recycling companies should be

informed to Indonesia as receiving country prior to shipping in more transparent way


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