Bandung (8 November 2021). The joint efforts of the Bandung City Government, the Regional Public Company (Perumda) Pasar Juara, and the Indonesian Plastic Bag Diet Movement (GIDKP) in realizing the first plastic-free and environmentally friendly market in Bandung will soon be recognized. Starting November 15, 2021, a trial of limiting single-use plastic will be conducted at Kosambi Market and Cihapit Market. As stated by the Deputy Mayor of Bandung, Yana Mulyana, in her speech at the Kick-Off of the Plastic Free and Environmentally Friendly Market Program in Bandung City on February 18, 2021, “We also ask for community participation in reducing the use of plastic waste and implementing regional plastic free. The kick-off for establishing a plastic-free and environmentally friendly market is one form of implementation of reducing the use of plastic waste. This is also the implementation of Mayor Regulation Number 37 of 2019 concerning Reducing the Use of Plastic Bags. After this Kick-off, I asked all agencies to collaborate in taking concrete steps regarding waste management in the market because this activity is an effort to reduce waste from upstream to downstream. Apart from that, alternatives to plastic must be available on the market, and this can be an opportunity for MSMEs to provide creative products in the form of environmentally friendly packaging.”

With the Bandung City Government and Perumda Pasar Juara, GIDKP has implemented the Plastic Free Market program at Kosambi and Cihapit Market since February 2021. This program is supported by the ”Rethinking Plastics – Circular Economy Solution to Marine Litter’Litter’ Project from the European Union and the Government of the Federal Republic Germany and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) in Indonesia.

Various kinds of outreach and educational activities have been carried out in both markets, starting from research on plastic consumption, discussions with traders, signing commitments between parties, door-to-door plastic-free shopping guides for traders, as well as other forms of campaigns and outreach that have been carried out online or face to face in the market area.

“Based on research conducted by GIDKP, as many as 416 million pieces of plastic bags are produced in one year from people’s markets alone or around 45% of all plastic bag sources (apart from shopping centers, modern shops, and restaurants). This is also the impact of people’s markets, which are still the main destination for shopping for daily necessities. Apart from that, people’s markets also have their uniqueness, starting from the bargaining process between traders and consumers, as well as other unique forms of interaction contained in them. “Based on this, we are collaborating with various parties, starting from the Bandung City Environment and Cleanliness Service and Perumda Pasar Juara in conducting the first pilot market model experiment in Bandung City,” said Rahyang Nusantara as GIDKP National Coordinator. Based on the results of basic research conducted by GIDKP, the number of plastic bags used at Kosambi Market in one day is approximately 11,000 pieces (large and small), while at Cihapit Market, it is 2,500 pieces (large and small).

Various activities have been carried out towards the implementation date on November 15, 2021, by preparing traders and consumers to reduce the use of single-use plastic when shopping. “We have to create a cool market that is market that no longer provides plastic bags. Let’s join in echoing this with the community to shop at markets that don’t provide plastic. We also need to hold events in markets that have implemented this to provide an environment where the market can not provide crackers and will make many people come. So, those are some of the efforts that we can make together with friends from GIDKP to promote these markets to be cool when these markets no longer provide plastic bags,” said Sopyan Hernadi, Head of Cleaning Division of the Bandung City Environment and Cleanliness Service on Instagram Live on 22 Last October 2021.

One of the traders also expressed his support for implementing the Plastic Free Market program. He said that if the use of single-use plastic was limited, he could save more because he no longer needed to spend money on buying plastic bags. “The socialization of the plastic-free market is good, especially for me as a trader, because I can first reduce the burden of buying plastic bags. , but I also give back to consumers because it is easy to reduce plastic. “I can spend one hundred and fifty thousand to buy plastic in one day,” said Wida, a vegetable trader at Kosambi Market.

It is hoped that all traders and consumers at Kosambi Market and Cihapit Market will start to get used to no longer using single-use plastic when shopping. Support for implementing the Plastic Free Market Program also came from Perumda Pasar Juara, which proposed Kosambi and Cihapit markets as plastic-free pilot markets in Bandung City. Herry Hermawan, Main Director of Perumda Pasar Juara, expressed his commitment to help educate traders so that they no longer use single-use plastic bags in the buying and selling process, “Perumda Pasar Juara is committed to supporting GIDKP by campaigning to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags among market residents, namely market traders and buyers who transact at the market through word of mouth from the Head and Market Unit, as well as through social media and also through Bandung Market’s radio channel. If this can be done on a massive scale and successfully reduces plastic bag use, we plan to apply it in other traditional markets in the future. “This is a positive contribution we can optimize as market managers,” he added.

Towards November 15, 2021, GIDKP will continue outreach at Kosambi Market and Cihapit Market on Thursday and Friday (11-12 November) at 09.00 WIB to invite consumers from each market to bring bags and containers. Repeat.

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Notes

Kick-off Documentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZLH8IyygrU&t=2s
Instagram Live Documentation: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CVU6JsJP1D2/?utm_medium=copy_link

About the Indonesian Plastic Bag Diet Movement (GIDKP).

GIDKP was started by a group of young people in 2010 who envisioned making Indonesia accessible from single-use plastic waste through advocacy, collaboration with business actors, and education. We have successfully encouraged Jakarta, Bandung, and Bali to implement a ban on single-use plastics, especially plastic bags. Our campaign was featured in an Indonesian documentary, Pulau Plastik, and an international documentary. It was awarded the News & Docs Emmy Awards in the Best Screenwriting Category, The Story of Plastic.

Contact Person:

Indonesian Plastic Bag Diet Movement

M Lutfi Alby – Plastic Free Market Advocacy Staff

+62 8788-521-0303

alby@dietkantongplastik.info