Name : Charlene Aurelia

School : Pematang siantar Methodist High School

NISN : 0066809474
Theme : The Dangers of Plastic Waste and its Solutions
The Dangers of Plastic Waste and Its Solutions
Have you ever wondered how much plastic waste is there is in Indonesia? Well,
as an Indonesian citizen I am sure that many people are curious on how much plastic
waste Indonesia generates annually. My name is Charlene Aurelia from Pematang
siantar Methodist High School and today let’s discuss about the dangers of plastic
waste and its solutions, in this speech, I will be talking about 3 main topics so without
further ado let’s get on to it.
Indonesia is battling one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time,
marine plastic debris. To support the Government of Indonesia’s efforts on combating
plastic waste, marine debris and its leadership in implementing the agenda, a better
understanding regarding the current state of this challenge is needed. The Plastic
Waste Discharges from Rivers and Coastlines in Indonesia report provides the first
Indonesia-wide assessment integrating local waste data with actual hydrological
conditions to tell the story of how local waste management practices contribute to
marine plastic pollution. The report synthesizes waste records from more than 500
municipal and provincial areas across the archipelago including annual rainfall,
topography and river flow data and models the movement of plastic waste from land-
based sources into the marine environment.
Uncollected waste contributes more to plastic waste discharges than leakages
from final disposal sites, and very little plastic is recycled. Considering Indonesia
generates approximately 7.8 million tons of plastic waste annually, 4.9 million tons of
plastic waste is mismanaged, for example, uncollected, disposed of in open dumpsites
or leaked from improperly managed landfills. In rural areas, it generates the largest
amount of mismanaged plastic waste due to the limited waste collection rates, speaking
of limited waste collection those kind of services and access to disposal infrastructure
hinders the improvement in waste handling behaviors, direct disposal in water is the
main pathway of plastic waste reaching rivers, often resulting from populations not
having access to waste collection services. According to The World Bank website, an
estimated range of between 201.1 – 552.3 kton/year (more precisely 346.5 kton/year) of
plastic waste is discharged into the marine environment from land-based sources in
Indonesia, two thirds of which come from Java and Sumatra. Rivers carry and discharge
83% of the annual plastic debris that leaks into the marine environment from land-based
sources, while only 17% is directly discarded or washed-off from coastal areas.
Policy recommendations to combat these problems are; Strengthening solid
waste management practices, knowledge and incentives in rural areas will Improve
overall waste collection coverage and provide better access to solid waste management
facilities, Increasing national sanitation campaigns at the household level to enhance
community understanding of healthy waste behaviors and reduce the household
practice of disposing waste directly into waterways. There are also a more openly way
to prevent plastic waste by promoting a circular economy to reduce plastics
consumption and prevent plastic pollution. The prevention should start at source and
even at an earlier life-cycle stage, considering reduction of critical single-use plastic
items and design for reuse, recovery and recycling of plastic waste, which can have
many other social, economic and environmental benefits.
And there you have it, while this will not completely solve Indonesia’s plastic
waste problems entirely, but a better understanding for those who are listening and who
knows? This could encourage someone to improve their country. Thank you for having
me for today and thank you to the viewers who are watching and listening to this
speech.