VZCZCXRO4717
RR RUEHAST RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
RUEHTM
DE RUEHJA #1421/01 2060320
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240320Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9624
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 8491
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2272
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5235
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2817
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 4768
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001421 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR OES AND EAP 
USTR FOR MLINSCOTT, DBROOKS 
USAID FOR ANE, EGAT 
BANGKOK FOR RDM/A AND REO 
NSC FOR CEQ CONNAUGHTON, VAN DYKE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ENRG ETRD KGHG SENV PGOV ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA: IMPLEMENTING LANDMARK WASTE MANAGEMENT LAW A 
CHALLENGE 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary.  Prior to hosting the Ninth Conference of Parties 
(COP9) of the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes in June 2008, the 
Government of Indonesia (GOI) passed a landmark Waste Management Law 
(WML).  Previously, a plethora of disparate local government 
regulations (PERDA) regulated waste management.  The WML reflects 
Indonesia's commitment to climate change mitigation (by reducing 
methane gas production from waste) and helps to fulfill 
constitutional obligations to safeguard citizens' health and 
welfare.  Implementation will be a challenge, however, as a minor 
controversy during COP9 illustrates.  End Summary. 
 
Indonesia - Controversial Host of COP9 
-------------------------------------- 
¶2.  (U) Even as Indonesia hosted the Ninth Conference of Parties 
(COP9) of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary 
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal in Bali from June 
23-27, it generated a minor controversy.  At COP9, the Indonesian 
delegation, led by the Ministry of Environment (MOE), was 
championing a total ban on the import and export of hazardous 
wastes.  However, it emerged that the Japan-Indonesia Economic 
Partnership Agreement (EPA), signed in August 2007 and which entered 
into effect July 1, 2008, allows the importation of a number of 
hazardous wastes categorized as goods -- including sewage sludge, 
medical waste, waste from chemical or allied industries, incinerator 
ash, and uranium enriched in U235.  Minister of Environment Rachmat 
Witoelar admitted that the GOI would have to examine this apparent 
contradiction.  The Indonesian Head of Delegation, Agus Purnomo, 
said that he was shocked by this apparent contradiction, and claimed 
that the Ministries of Industry and Trade did not involve the MOE in 
negotiating the EPA. 
 
Background 
---------- 
¶3.  (U) The volume of waste is growing exponentially due to the 
rapid growth of Indonesia's population and industrial activity. 
Municipal solid waste (MSW) in large metropolitan areas is growing 
annually by an average of 20.9 percent, according to MOE data from 
¶2006.  Previous waste management laws simply dealt with collecting, 
transporting and disposing wastes, and were inadequate for the 
increasing volume and types of waste produced.  These were causing 
social, environmental degradation, and health problems, according to 
Hendarso Hadiparmono, Chairperson of the Special Committee of the 
Indonesian Parliament (DPR) for this legislation, and the DPR 
concluded that Indonesia needed an umbrella law to regulate all 
aspects of waste management.  Mountains of waste in open dumps 
produce methane gas (CH4), contributing to global warming.  Lack of 
community participation and limited budgets also make waste 
management difficult. 
 
Indonesia Enacts Landmark Waste Management Law 
--------------------------------------------- - 
¶4.  (U) On April 9, 2008, the Indonesian Parliament approved Law No. 
18 on Waste Management, and President Yudhoyono signed the WML into 
effect on May 7.  Minister of Environment Rachmat Witoelar called 
the law a landmark step toward proper waste management in Indonesia 
and said it reflects Indonesia's commitment to climate change 
mitigation (by reducing methane gas production from waste). 
According to Deputy Minister of Environment for Environmental 
Management Ilyas Asaad, the WML is one of his ministry's major 
achievements since the GOI passed the Environmental Management Act 
(EMA) in 1997.  The GOI and local governments have three years in 
which to enact the implementing regulations.  Deputy Minister Ilyas 
says that these will include 11 national government regulations 
(PP), two ministerial regulations, and 11 local government 
regulations (PERDA), on matters such as waste management oversight, 
implementation of administrative sanctions, and compensation. 
 
¶5.  (U) The GOI hopes that the WML will address Indonesia's waste 
problem, by establishing clear waste categories and clear roles and 
responsibilities for the central and local governments, the private 
sector, and local communities.  The GOI also intends the legislation 
to create incentives and disincentives for the private sector to 
increase the use of recycled materials in their products.  The WML 
also includes: 
 
 
JAKARTA 00001421  002 OF 002 
 
 
-- Provisions for cooperation and partnership, opening up 
opportunities for regency/city -business partnership in waste 
processing activities, as well as community participation in waste 
management; 
 
-- Prohibitions and legal sanctions: The law bans importing 
hazardous and toxic waste.  The WML also stipulates legal sanctions 
for violators of the law, including prison terms and administrative 
fines ranging from 3- 15 years and 100 million to 5 billion rupiah 
(approximately USD 10,800-541,000), respectively; and 
 
-- Obligations: Local governments have one year to develop plans to 
close open dumping areas, and implement those plans within five 
years after the law comes into force.  Local governments are 
required to evaluate dumping areas every 6 months during a 20-year 
operation period, and establish emergency response systems for 
accidents involving dumps. 
 
A New Paradigm of Waste Management 
---------------------------------- 
¶6.  (U) The WML is a "paradigm shift" for Indonesia, according to 
Hendarso, in that it considers waste an economic resource, and 
introduces the 3R concept: reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Also 
reflected in Chapter IV of the law is the concept of extended 
producer responsibility (EPR) -- based on the "polluter pays" 
principle,  a policy that entails making manufacturers responsible 
for the entire lifecycle of the products and packaging they produce. 
 The central and local governments have to encourage all parties to 
introduce integrated waste management.  The first pilot 
implementation projects will be in three cities: Jombang (East 
Java), Singaparna (West Java) and Magelang (Central Java).  Deputy 
Minister of State Minister of Environment for Pollution Control, M. 
Gempur Adnan says that the government will push 26 big and metro 
cities to close open dumping areas within five years. 
 
Support for Implementation Welcome 
---------------------------------- 
¶7.  (U) Atik, Assistant to the Deputy Minister of Environment for 
Environmental Management, admits that it will be challenging to 
complete all the implementing regulations within one year.  She 
notes that the Government welcomes any support (including from donor 
countries) for the process of drafting implementing regulations. 
Implementation of existing laws has been weak, and without visible 
enforcement, the new WML will have little practical effect. 
 
HUME