In Indonesia, splits emerge over efforts to stem plastic tide

FILE PHOTO: A man searches for plastic to sell for recycling at Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi, West Java province, Indonesia November 22, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside/File Photo

JAKARTA (Reuters) - As Indonesia struggles with mountains of plastic waste going into landfill and polluting its rivers and oceans, business groups are pushing to overturn restrictions on importing plastic scrap into Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, is estimated to be the world's second-largest contributor of plastic pollutants in the oceans after China, according to a 2015 study published in Science journal.