Plastic Marine Waste and its Potential for Indonesian Indigenous Communities

Jacob Wood,Simona Azzali,Prerna Puri,Pawel Zejden,Emil Senf Jakobsen,Sumanth Shankar,Swathi Paturi

doi:10.25120/etropic.19.1.2020.3697

Jacob Wood, Simona Azzali + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.19.1.2020.3697

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Abstract

The management of marine waste is an increasingly complex issue facing the world today. Our study provides an interesting take on the issue of marine waste by examining how Indonesian indigenous communities can deal with plastic marine pollution. While there is an obvious need for mitigating plastic use, for effective legislative policies regulating plastic waste management, and to do more to develop sustainable waste management practices; there are also opportunities for indigenous communities to take an innovative approach by using plastic waste in a manner that drives economic development from both non-market and neoliberal theoretical ideologies. As part of this assessment, alongside Indonesian examples we include examples of plastic re-use by indigenous communities of the Philippines and Australia. Moreover, our study highlights some of the areas in which this is being done in the fields of art and infrastructure development.

Highlights

The advent and spread of globalization has played an influential role in stimulating the demand for, and production of, plastics
The indigenous populations of Indonesia have a history of being oppressed and unrecognized;; and while they have been slowly granted appropriate rights – lands being one of them (IWGIA, n.d) – they are facing new challenges, including those posed by plastic waste
As a country with 70% of the population living in coastal areas (Dahuri, 2020), Indonesia is at greater risk from the adverse consequences that plastic waste brings

Summary

Introduction

The advent and spread of globalization has played an influential role in stimulating the demand for, and production of, plastics. Every year, 8 to 12 million metric tons of plastic waste is being dumped into the oceans (Rice, 2018) Ocean currents disperse this waste plastic throughout the world causing significant environmental damage. Many countries are banning single-use plastics and trying to adopt a new, circular economy approach, where plastic products are kept in use for as long as possible before reusing, repairing, remanufacturing and recycling the material to create a closed-loop system. These changes are often met with resistance by the community in general, as well as by local governments and businesses (Godfrey, 2019).

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Discussion

Conclusion