JAKARTA: The Environment Ministry is preparing to require producers of plastic-packaged goods to finance the collection and management of waste generated by their products under a new extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy, as part of the government’s push to address Indonesia’s mounting waste problem.
Environment Minister Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat said the regulation would require around 10,000 large manufacturers to allocate funds for waste management through independent organisations known as packaging recovery organisations (PROs).
The policy will be formalised in a ministerial regulation on EPR, which expands producers' responsibility beyond manufacturing to include the post-consumer stage of their products.
"I have met with major producers whose products use plastic packaging.
They have all said they are ready," Jumhur said in a statement on Saturday. Under the scheme, producers will channel funding to locally established PROs, which will manage waste collection, recycling and community-based environmental programs.
The central government will oversee the regulatory framework but will not manage the operational funds.
“[PRO] can be established, for example, in Tangerang. Local communities are free to set up this kind of organisation, and it will receive funding. The funding will not be small; it will come from the producers. Activities carried out by the PRO will create green jobs,” he said.
He added that the funding could support grassroots initiatives ranging from public awareness campaigns to river cleanups.
"The PRO will support community environmental initiatives such as the Kali Sabi Festival 2026. Its funding can be used for activities ranging from door-to-door campaigns reminding residents not to litter to downstream efforts such as river cleanup activities," he said.
The ministry expects the new mechanism to strengthen Indonesia's circular economy while creating employment opportunities in waste management and environmental restoration.
The announcement follows earlier remarks by Environment Ministry waste reduction and circular economy development director Agus Rusly, who said producers' contributions under the EPR scheme would be determined by how easily their packaging could be recycled.
"The harder a package is to recycle, the more producers will have to pay. That should encourage companies to use materials that are easier to recycle," Agus said in Jakarta on July 3, as quoted by Kompas.com.
According to Agus, multilayer packaging used in everyday consumer products such as instant noodles, shampoo and disposable diapers remains one of the biggest challenges, noting that a single instant noodle manufacturer can generate around 20 billion multilayer packages annually, equivalent to roughly 40,000 tonnes of hard-to-recycle residual waste.
the ministry is currently revising Environment and Forestry Ministerial Regulation No. 75/2019 on the producer waste reduction roadmap, with the revision targeted for completion in September.
One of the key changes is to make the EPR scheme mandatory for all producers, replacing the current voluntary approach. The ministry would launch a nationwide Tobat Ekologis (Ecological Repentance) movement in August to encourage collective responsibility for environmental degradation.
The initiative will include a plan to plant 2 billion trees nationwide, which he said would create green jobs in areas such as seedling production, planting and maintenance. - Jakarta Post/ANN
