Indonesia is preparing a regulation that will require companies to manage the waste generated by their products and packaging, shifting responsibility for waste management from local governments to producers as part of the country's push toward a circular economy.
Environment Minister Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat said the ministry is drafting a ministerial regulation on extended producer responsibility (EPR), which will make packaging waste management mandatory for businesses.
"We will soon issue a ministerial regulation on extended producer responsibility, or EPR. We will require them (the private sector) to manage their waste," Hidayat said, as quoted by Antara.
According to the minister, the regulation could apply to nearly 10,000 factories producing plastic-packaged goods across Indonesia. The government is still calculating the financial and operational obligations that producers will be required to fulfill under the scheme.
To help companies comply, the government is encouraging the establishment of Packaging Recovery Organizations (PROs)—industry-led entities that would coordinate the collection, tracking, and recycling of post-consumer packaging waste on behalf of participating producers.
The regulation is intended to ensure that waste management is financed by producers rather than the state budget, according to Deputy for Waste Management at the Environment Ministry Rizal Irawan. "This regulation is intended as a strategic measure to ensure sustainable plastic waste management, with funding provided by the industrial sector rather than the State Budget," he said, as quoted by Antara. He added that several large companies had expressed readiness to implement the policy.
The Jakarta Post previously reported that the ministry expects large manufacturers of plastic-packaged products to allocate dedicated budgets for waste management under the EPR framework. The proposal is aimed at reducing the financial burden on municipalities while improving collection and recycling rates nationwide.
The policy comes as Indonesia continues to face significant waste management challenges. The Environment Ministry estimates the country generates around 141,900 tonnes of waste each day, but only about 26 percent is properly managed. Around 72 percent of final disposal sites still rely on open dumping, while more than one-third of waste ends up directly in the environment.
For manufacturers, including foreign consumer goods, food and beverage, cosmetics, and retail companies operating in Indonesia, the regulation is expected to introduce new compliance requirements related to the collection and recycling of packaging after products reach consumers. The government has not yet announced when the regulation will take effect or how producer contributions will be calculated.
