The level of participation of civil society organizations and communities is very high in the 2020 Plastic-Free Parade. This is shown by the participation of more than 100 organizations and communities in organizing the second year of the parade. One of the signs that the public is getting more educated and realizing that the plastic waste crisis needs to be resolved immediately with real and integrated policies.
The steps forward in a number of regions, including the Provincial Government of DKI Jakarta, which has issued the Governor of DKI Jakarta Regulation No. 142 the Year of 2019 concerning the Obligation to Use Environmentally Friendly Shopping Bags at Shopping Centers, Supermarkets, and Traditional Markets, should be escalated in policies at the national level. The reason is, in the National Plastic Action Partnership document, Indonesia targets to reduce plastic waste in the oceans by 70% by 2025, and free plastic waste by 2040.
Tiza Mafira, Executive Director of the Indonesian Plastic Bag Diet Movement, said that currently there are more than 30 districts/cities and provinces that have regulations at the local level to prohibit the use of plastic bags and other single-use plastics. In last year’s parade, DKI Jakarta Province was one that was encouraged to follow in the footsteps of the Province of Bali which had previously implemented a ban on plastic bags, straws, and polystyrene. “In this parade, of course, we are targeting a bigger thing, which is demanding a policy of banning single-use plastics at the national level,” said Tiza.