Student finds 19-year-old plastic noodle wrapper on Java beach

Non-degradable: The plastic packaging features a phrase that reads ‘Dirgahayu 55 Tahun Indonesiaku’ that was posted on Twitter. — The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA: A photo depicting an intact piece of plastic garbage resembling an old Indomie packaging has gone viral on social media.

The photograph – which was posted on Twitter by Fianisa Tiara Pradani, a 19-year-old student majoring in ocean studies at Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java – has garnered significant attention as the plastic packaging featured a phrase that read “Dirgahayu 55 Tahun Indonesiaku” (“Happy 55th Anniversary, my Indonesia”), indicating that the wrap dated from the year 2000.

The photo shows that the waste has not been degraded since it was apparently disposed of nearly two decades ago.

“Indonesia will turn 74 years old this August, but this morning I discovered an old Indomie packaging that celebrated the country’s 55th anniversary.

“It means that the plastic garbage has been floating on the ocean for 19 years before it landed on a shore,” Fianisa posted on her Twitter page, @selfeeani, on Saturday.

Fianisa said she had found the old plastic packaging during a school field trip to Sendang Biru Beach in Malang on Saturday.

“We were taking water samples from the beach. However, when the water receded, we saw that there was quite a lot of garbage on the beach. We were cleaning up the beach when we came across the old Indomie packaging,” she said, as quoted by kompas.com.

The photo has sparked concern regarding waste management. Indonesia has been accused as the world’s second biggest contributor of marine plastic waste.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti’s official Twitter account, @susipudjiastuti, has since retweeted the photo.

Based on Statistics Indonesia data, Indonesia imported 283,152 tons of plastic waste in 2018, up by 141% from the previous year. — The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network