REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, By: Asma Nadia

Tens of thousands of fishes dead in Jakarta Bay. Various theories appeared in the media. Changes in temperature caused toxic sediments and resulted in dead fishes. Some said there was waste on the beach. Jakarta reclamation was also damaging fishes habitat.

There was no certainty which one was the most appropriate theory, but certainly the main cause was: wrong management of garbage or waste.

For most areas in Indonesia, garbage is a problem. Whereas in developed countries, garbage becomes business worth trillions rupiah!

I remember a brief chat with a surfer who sat next to me on the flight back to Jakarta from Europe.

The big man uncovered a shocking data. "In this world, 80% of waste in the ocean is only from six countries, and one of them is Indonesia."

Was it true that the six countries gave 80% of waste in the oceans? It was extraordinarily embarrassing. A few weeks ago the media were busy informing there were a lot of garbage piling up in Jakarta. Dozens of trucks lined up and the smell spread to everywhere. It disturbed people. The private parties stated its loss due to large operational costs, one reason was the local government refused its territory to become landfills.

Why did garbage always become problem, while it was potentially to become a very profitable business? In fact, there were many foreign investors who are interested handle it.

Garbage and waste restored my memory when visiting my child in the Netherlands. I stayed for a few weeks at the residence of the Dutch community which provided low-cost lodging.

Interestingly, the homeowner was working in waste management centers belonging to the local government. He told me how garbage became an export commodity that was highly profitable. Almost all the trash were recycled into useful material. Even thousands of tons of waste were exported. He recently met trash buyers from India, Japan, and several other countries in Asia.

I saw how the arrangement of the garbage was so neatly in the Netherlands. Garbage bin were available everywhere. Each house has a garbage bin provided by the government-with the same shape and size. The size was adapted with the design of garbage truck which will take all waste.

The garbage truck in the Netherlands has a regular operating schedule. For example, today the truck will take paper waste and tomorrow the truck will take plastic waste.

Read: Jakarta sets target to clean rivers of garbage by 2015

If there was a large trash, such as a refrigerator or other large electronic items, the residents can call the official to make an appointment for taking the item.

All residents should be disciplined. Discipline can be built not only by awareness but also by the rules. It is important not to rely on public awareness, but also on law enforcement.

Every week there were police who will dismantle the garbage bins to ascertain its contents. If there was a plastic waste mixed with organic waste, the residents will be fined 70 euros or Rp 1 million. It was because the mixed waste could not be directly processed.

In Indonesia, most of the garbage were mixed. Organic waste mixed with paper waste would make paper crushed and contributed in deforestation. Plastic waste mixed with plastic waste would require a lot of chemicals for cleaning.

Learning from other countries, Indonesia should immediately revolutionize the waste system. At least it could start to be applied in hotels and office buildings, before the wider community.

Otherwise, we would only accumulate garbage and increasingly damage natural environment.

Grateful there were still many heroes who deserve well in managing waste. They were recyclers activists who were also driving the garbage bank. They performed tasks that should be done by the government. Without them, the whole beauty and potential of our beloved country would be slowly disappearing behind the mountain of garbage.

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