JakartaPost-Oct 3
The scarcity of public waste disposal and management facilities in the country has apparently prompted many people to burn their household waste out in the open, creating a whole slew of health problems, according to a global safety charity, which has urged the government to provide viable alternatives to save Indonesian lives as well as the environment. A report on household waste management in the latest edition of the World Risk Poll, produced by Lloyd’s Register Foundation and published on Sept. 17, highlights the urgent challenge of uncontrolled waste disposal in Indonesia, where 48 percent of households burn their waste, even though the practice is prohibited. Open burning of waste has been proven detrimental to both the environment and the people due to the atmospheric release of black carbon, “a key contributor to global warming, as well as ‘forever chemicals’ that can be carried long distances and harm people’s health”, the report says. An estimated “1 million people die every year in lower-income countries from diseases related to mismanaged waste, of which open burning is a core part”, it continues. “Household waste is a fact of life, wherever people live. But the way we dispose of this waste matters, impacting air quality and health, the safety of the people who work with our waste, and the environment,” Nancy Hey, Lloyd’s director of evidence and insight says, as quoted in the report. “While residents of many countries benefit from safe and sustainable waste management infrastructure, in countries such as Indonesia, the lack of viable alternatives means the uncontrolled disposal of household waste, including hazardous open burning, is high,” she says. Hey also suggests “the development of better collection infrastructure that leads to controlled disposal should be an urgent priority”. Read more at: https://www.
