JAKARTA — Indonesian members of parliament have decided to delay confirmation of a government plan for a levy on plastic bags, but the finance minister said she was optimistic the legislation was on track to be adopted this year. The archipelago of 17,000 islands churns out 9.85 billion of the bags each year, making it the world’s second biggest contributor of plastic pollutants in the oceans, Sri Mulyani Indrawati told members of parliament. She proposed excise duties starting from 30,000 rupiah ($2.12) for each kilogram of plastic, or 200 rupiah per bag, saying she hoped the measure would cut the number of plastic bags Indonesia used and the waste it produced. “(Recycling) is more effective for zero waste, there will be no waste,” Budi Susanto Sadiman, deputy chairman of plastic makers association Inaplas, told Reuters. “An excise duty on plastic bags is useless,” Sadiman said, adding that the levy would boost producers’ costs while not cutting consumption of plastic bags.

Source: National Post July 03, 2019 05:26 UTC