Indonesia
is drowning in plastic trash. Bottles pollute its beaches, bags congest its
waterways and instant-noodle cups overflow its garbage bins. It's only getting
worse: By 2019, Indonesia will generate about 5 percent more trash than it did
in 2014, and about 15 percent of that will be plastic.
Fixing
this problem has become a priority for lawmakers. In February, they slapped a
tax on plastic shopping bags. This month, they'll consider one on plastic
containers, including drink bottles. It's a simple solution -- and it's likely
to cause much more misery than the mess it's designed to clean up.
The
problem is Indonesia's contaminated water. In 2015, only half of city residents
had access to piped water, and only 2 percent of urban areas had access to
sewage lines and treatment facilities. Industrial pollution is rife. In rural
areas, about 37 million people drink from what the World Bank characterizes as
"unprotected sources."
Boiling
water often takes care of the problem in the countryside. But there's no
boiling away industrial chemicals, leaving urban dwellers with few good
options. Many turn to bottled water, transforming what the West views as a
luxury into a necessity -- an essential public service not provided by the
government.
Demand is
strong. About 30 percent of the population relies on bottled water regularly.
Between 2009 and 2014, sales increased by 12.5 percent annually. Not all of
that growth is driven by need (Jakarta has its share of Pellegrino-serving
Italian restaurants). But much of it is, providing yet another example of urban
growth outpacing the government's ability to manage it.
And the
government's failure is largely the poor's burden. In East Java, connecting a
home to a piped water system costs between $150 and $300 -- a considerable
burden in poor neighborhoods where people might earn only a few dollars a day.
Those who can't afford such a lump sum must find water elsewhere, either by
carrying it from a well (which may not be safe) or by buying it in bottles.
Over time, bottled water ends up costing considerably more than piped water,
and thus eats up a significant share of a poor family's income.
As a
result, even a modest tax on plastic containers could substantially harm public
health. A $0.02 tax on plastic bags has resulted in a 25 percent decline in
usage at supermarkets, according to Indonesia's environment ministry. That's
great. But a similar decline in plastic bottle usage could have grim
consequences: About a quarter of all deaths among Indonesian children under
five are caused by diarrheal diseases, most of which result from unclean water.
That would only get worse.
Ultimately,
ensuring that environmental protection doesn't come at the expense of the poor
will require more than quick-fix approaches. The government knows this. Since
2000, it has made considerable progress toward its goal of getting clean water
and sanitation to all its citizens. The bad news is that it will need more than
$57 billion to finish the job.
That
won't be easy. In the meantime, far simpler measures would go a long way. The
quickest and cheapest is to support home-based decontamination products. A
bottle of Air RahMat, an anti-microbial solution, costs about $0.30 and can
decontaminate the average family's water supply for a month. Indonesia's
government should be supporting such home and community-based solutions --
including better education about hygiene -- while it develops reliable water
infrastructure over the long term.
That's a
better way to cut back on pollution than a regressive bottle tax. It would also
save money -- and lives.
This column does not necessarily reflect the
opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
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