A Four-Part Series on Water (Part 4: Cleaned Water in Singapore)

Introduction: Harnessing Cleaned Urban Waters

Singapore’s “City in a Garden” vision was met with anticipation and great expectation by the international community. This new vision marks a stepping up of its environmental sector from simply being a “Clean and Green City.” This vision also served to integrate water into Singapore’s green matrix, signifying the interconnectedness of nature. As the population grows in this land-scarce city, so does the need for both its greenery and water to be well integrated to ensure their sustainability.

Currently, Singapore continues to face challenges to its water supply due to its scarce land availability for water storage and the pressure to meet the huge domestic household (45% of Singapore’s water demand) and industrial demand of 430 million gallons of clean fresh water per day. Singapore has built a diversified water supply from four water sources known as the Four National Taps – 1) local catchments, 2) imported water, 3) NEWater and 4) desalinated water. However, to be more self-reliant, Singapore has to be less dependent on imported water.

Receiving a mean rainfall of 2,165.9mm per year, Singapore uses two-thirds of its land to collect urban stormwater, channelling it into the 17 reservoirs the city has today (with the aim of expanding its urban catchment to 90% of the island in the near future). Through its 8,000km interconnected waterway network, water channelled into reservoirs is subsequently treated and distributed to households. This makes Singapore one of the few countries in the world to harvest urban stormwater on a large scale for potable consumption.

Singapore: “Cleaned” rather than “Clean”

Notably, this urban waterway network passes through the island’s heartland as drains, canals and rivers. Exposed to the environment, these water channels are prone to litter, eventually polluting the reservoirs. Additionally, litter can create further issues when it clogs drains and canals. In 2018 alone, NEA issued around 39,000 fines for littering offenses (21.9% increase from 2017), and 2,600 Corrective Work Orders (CWOs) for repeated offenders (30% increase from 2017). In 2019 and 2020, Waterways Watch Society (WWS) collected 12,141 kg of trash from Marina Reservoir (one of the 17 reservoirs) during their clean-up programmes and patrols. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, besides traditional litter such as tin cans, plastic bottles and bags, disposable masks are now one of the most commonly collected. In the past three months alone (December 2020 to February 2021), WWS volunteers conducted 25 rounds of patrol, collecting more than 700kg of litter including more than 500 masks. Unfortunately, these figures do not include litter collected during our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Values-In-Action (VIA) programmes with schools and corporates which would reflect a more dire situation.

This certainly unveils the hidden fact: Singapore is a “cleaned city” rather than a “clean city.” En route to being a “cleaned city”, Singapore strictly enforced numerous laws and policies to regulate, govern and more importantly protect the environment. These include the Water Pollution Control and Drainage Act introduced in 1975, the Environmental Protection and Management Act 2008, the Environmental Public Health Act. Additionally, essential waste infrastructure such as traps and gratings were installed at drains, canals, and rivers. Regular dredging and drain maintenance were also conducted to prevent litter from blocking the waterways. Cleaners were also employed to clean the rivers and reservoirs daily. Disappointingly, even with the current efforts of manpower deployment (close to 70,000 cleaners) and a well-structured infrastructure, WWS volunteers still observe a lot of litter during their normal patrol rounds, especially in litter hotspots frequented by the general public. Eerily predicting such circumstances, the late Mr Lee Kwan Yew once said “The difficult part was getting the people to change their habits so that they behaved more like first world citizens.”

Lapse in Understanding among an Urban Population

Laws and regulations are ultimately meant to serve as deterrents for potential offenders. However, it is not enough to simply rely on laws and regulations nor is expanding more resources to clean Singapore’s waterways the way forward. The lack of awareness and concern towards protecting this vital source tap remains the crux of the matter; a vital issue the nation has to tackle. Therefore, a long-term, sustainable solution is to cultivate responsible civic behaviour without the need to rely heavily on enforcement.

Currently, there seems to be a significant lapse in understanding the various impacts of littering, more importantly, how it eventually affects the quality and sustainability of clean water. This lapse could be attributed to the urban population who have settled comfortably without the need to fret about water scarcity and sanitation problems. Therefore, the inconspicuous truth of Singapore being a “cleaned” city and not a “clean” city needs to be iterated regularly to its citizens.

“Zero-waste Nation” still a Distant Goal

Despite its inception in 2014, becoming a zero-waste nation is still a distant goal for Singapore to achieve. Singapore’s only landfill, the purpose-built trash island of Semakau is projected to be completely full by 2035 at the rapid rate it is filling up. In addition to the population’s high waste generation (even though there seems to be a declining trend), Singapore also faces a declining recycling rate even when the nation’s recycling initiatives have seemingly increased over the last two decades. In 2019, about 59% of the nation’s total waste was recycled, a 2% decline from 2018. In particular, the recycling rate from households further declined by 17% in 2019, reflecting a general passiveness from the public.

For Singapore to advance its recycling agenda, especially in residential households, it is imperative to increase public awareness and understanding of “Recycling Right”, the official slogan championing good recycling practices unveiled in 2019. As a start, it is crucial to guide Singaporeans on what can or cannot be recycled.

Hoping to benefit from a water-energy-waste nexus, Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) is considering the development of an Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) to help Singapore meet its future waste management needs and achieve long term environmental sustainability. One worrying consideration is that the establishment of an IWMF could drive an intrinsic demand for waste. If so, would this not be at odds with Singapore’s objective of active recycling? Will becoming a zero-waste city impact energy production by the IWMF? The articulation of how the development of the IWMF is aligned with recycling efforts is thus crucial, and something every citizen should be mindful of.

Conclusion

Environmental education is a long-term investment; one which may be difficult to yield concrete results within a short period of time. Despite this, the difficulty in quantifying results and level of impact should not be taken as a legitimate reason or warrant for us to be less conscious about this prevailing issue. It is now timely to come together to move away from simply being “cleaned” to a truly clean nation. To achieve the vision of becoming a “City in a Garden” requires the cooperation and responsibility of every individual, to adopt strong civic-mindedness, rather than its reliance on the government and current regulations.

It is always easy to play the blame game when it boils down to the issue of undertaking responsibility, but what is more important, is always about being honest and frank about where we are, what needs to be done, and what we are doing now, as an individual, an organisation, a corporate, an industry, and a nation.

Part 1: Tackling Riverine Litter in Indonesia: All Contributions Matter

Part 2: Sustainable Water: Lessons from an Indonesian Community Forest in a “Barren Village”

Part 3: Valuing Water through Community Empowerment in Malaysia

A Four-Part Series on Water (Part 3: Community Empowerment in Malaysia)

Introduction

97% of Malaysia’s water supply is from its rivers and streams. Unfortunately, pollution stemming from rapid urbanization has caused Malaysia to rapidly lose its precious, vital supply of water. In addition to the increasingly frequent water supply disruption, flash floods are becoming more common. This is not unexpected when the capacity of drainages is compromised by litter and having to deal with the backflow of excess water during heavy rainfall. Key to this predicament is the ignorance in valuing water.

Despite its Abundance, Malaysia is at Risk of Insufficient Water Supply

Water is abundantly available in Malaysia with an average annual rainfall of 3000 mm resulting in a total of 990  billion cubic metres (bcm) of rainwater. Of which, an estimated 566 bcm (57%) of rainwater runs off as surface flow and in the river systems annually.

Despite its abundance, there is a worring trend of an increasing domestic demand for water, rising from 2,029 million m³ in 2,000 to 5,904 million m³ in 2,050 (~three-fold increase). As is, eight out of 11 states in Peninsular Malaysia are exposed to water supply risks. Population growth and urbanization, industrialization and the expansion of irrigated agriculture are already imposing rapidly increasing demands and pressure on water resources, besides contributing to the rising water pollution, climate change effect and various other anthropogenic effects that disrupts the water supply chain. If these issues are not addressed, Malaysia’s water supply will be heavily contested for, resulting in few winners and many losing parties.

Devalued Water: Ignorance of Water Footprint and Forgotten Lessons from the Past

Rapid advancement has also led to the inculcation of detrimental behavioural changes. Among others, the accessibility of obtaining basic needs such as obtaining instant potable water by switching on the taps and easily available bottled water have led Malaysians to take water for granted. Not only would future generations be attuned to such convenience, they would also develop an ignorance of how finite water is as a resource, how their lifestyle and food consumption patterns impact water sustainability and sadly, forgetting crucial lessons from the past.

Recently, Malaysia’s National Water Services Commission (SPAN) reported that each Malaysian consumes an average of 230 litres of water per day, approximately 154 1.5 litre bottled water. This average daily consumption is 39% more than the 165 litres recommended by the United Nations (UN). Through numerous campaigns, SPAN hopes to reduce water usage of Malaysians to 180 litres per person per day by 2025. Unfortunately, with the current rate of consumption, achieving the target may be a tall order.

Water consumption in Malaysia is increasing, in line with the increasing population, at an annual rate of 4% and projected to reach 20 billion m³ by 2020. Malaysia has done well as the potable water supply coverage reaches 96.7% Malaysia’s population. This means that most Malaysians in both rural and urban areas have access to clean water. Unfortunately, this achievement is marred by frequent water supply disruptions especially in cities. Further confounding cities are Malaysian’s urban lifestyle and food consumption patterns which impact sustainability (e.g. include higher meat consumption, consumeristic lifestyle, longer working hours where eating out is now more regular).

Furthermore, measures taken to curb the COVID-19 pandemic increased the usage of plastics wastes, i.e.  floatable waste including food packaging used for food deliveries and take away options, used disposable masks, empty sanitizer and disinfection bottles were observed in the waterways. To address this, numerous initiatives were actively carried out during the Movement Control Order (MCO), the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO), the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) movement control phases to create awareness and enhance the sense of belonging among public. This entailed promulgating effective water conservation methods, raising awareness on the use of water, encouraging recycling and reuse of water when appropriate, and conducting initiatives to protect and clean the waterways and rivers. At the heart of these initiatives is education.

The current education system in Malaysia has seemingly deemphasized the importance of the environmental resources for human needs and to live in harmony with nature. Previously, there was a subject specifically on environment, now it is reduced to a sub-component in various subjects in primary and secondary schools while being incorporated as part of mandatory credit hours to fulfil to graduate from tertiary institutions. The significance of these lessons is at risk of not resonating with students, or worse being deemed as inconvenience to fulfil requirements of the education system. Unfortunately, it may be ingrained in students that success in life is measured by financial wealth rather than ecological wealth.  This reinforces the detachment between human and nature.  Confounding the situation is the ignorance among parents themselves, thus, future generations lose an important source of guidance to care for the environment. Past lessons on water conservation and saving initiatives i.e. rainwater harvesting, protection of stream and water bodies for food supply and alternative water usage, reusing water to as well as composting of food waste when not passed down further drives the collapse of environmental sustainability.

This is aptly captured in the rivet metaphor originally developed by Paul and Anne Ehrlich, “Each act of environmental destruction (loss of a species, in the original metaphor) is like pulling a rivet from the plane’s wing. The wing has lots of rivets, so nothing happens when the first few rivets go. But eventually and inevitably, as more rivets are pulled, the wings break off and the plane crashes.”

Empowering the Malaysian Community

To prevent an environmental collapse, the federal and the state government as well as the relevant agencies need to take drastic and significant actions, beyond structural measures. This entails expanding the scope of resource management, through demand side approaches such as the inclusion of the nation’s biggest untapped resource – the people. While the government is addressing the issue through legislations and policies, Malaysians themselves need to be empowered so they too can play a significant role to monitor, protect, handle issues related to water resource management. Civil Society organizations such as the Global Environment Centre (GEC) has initiated such empowerment programmes within the Klang Valley area in Kuala Lumpur through the citizen science approach. This approach entails the coupling of skills while creating awareness. By ensuring that the public is equipped with awareness, knowledge and skills, only then can they take action to fix the problems at hand. By investing in the people, they can make a difference by changing their daily habits.  Additionally, they would be more receptive to being co-opted as citizen scientists/local champions to protect natural resources in Malaysia.

To empower communities, crucial lessons on 1) water resource restoration/balancing, 2) water conservation, and 3) water waste management must be promulgated.

1) Water Resource Restoration/Balancing– This aims to assist the community identify and integrate the components of water resource for its sustainable management. A key driver is the reduction of the water footprint or wastage and increasing water storage. This promotes restoration and rehabilitation of water resource to meet its intended usages.

2) Water Conservation – This lesson equips communities with the knowledge to protect and sustain sources of existing water supply and venturing into safeguarding alternative water supply for non-portable use. Alternative Water supply includes rainwater harvesting, groundwater and water recycling, increasing water storages such as through – groundwater storages, tree planting, and river restorations and rehabilitations. This also includes promoting management and conservation of water and river stretches via reduction of pollution and solid waste.

3) Waste Water Management – This component focuses on the disposal of wastewater at water bodies. The community are taught and invited to initiatives such as the development of sustainable drainage systems and pollution controls by biofiltration systems (e.g. via infiltration basin, constructed wetland, water regeneration and rain gardens for storm water regulation). Through this lesson, the importance of maintaining biodiversity in riverine management is iterated – the ecosystem acting as natural filters that is sadly often disregarded today.

Conclusion

Through increased awareness and empowerment in the form of knowledge and skills, Malaysians would be better equipped, potentially more receptive to participate in ensuring a continued water supply for all. Such receptiveness also inculcates a sense of ownership for the environment and increases the likelihood of passing down vital lessons to future generations.

Part 1: Tackling Riverine Litter in Indonesia: All Contributions Matter

Part 2: Sustainable Water: Lessons from an Indonesian Community Forest in a “Barren Village”

Part4: The Inconspicuous Truth of Singapore’s Water: Cleaned rather than Clean

A Four-Part Series on Water (Part 2: Sustainable Water in a Barren Indonesian Village)

Introduction

Water is undeniably a basic human need. In addition to consumption, water is vital for economic reasons. Unfortunately, not everyone has easy access to this vital resource.  Experts believed that Java, Indonesia’s most populous island of more than 150 million residents, is presently in danger of water scarcity with the situation worsening in the future.

In the Technocratic Draft of the National Medium-Term Development Plan 2020-2024 issued by the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas), water scarcity in Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara were estimated to increase annually with the proportion of areas experiencing water crisis rising from 6.0%  in 2000 to 9.6%  in 2045. Water quality was also predicted to decline significantly. Researchers attributed these to several factors including climate change, population growth and changes in land use.

Gunung Kidul Regency in Yogyakarta, central Indonesia, is one area that continues to experience water scarcity, especially during the onset of the dry season. The topography of this area which is dominated by karst hills makes it difficult for water to be stored in the ground. Consequently, the land has become less fertile, dry and barren. This is exacerbated by climate change which results in the arrival of erratic seasons, as well as land use changes that reduces the surrounding ​​natural forest.

Every year, droughts hit at least 14 to 15 sub-districts out of a total 18 sub-districts in the province, including Patuk, Tepus, and Purwosari Districts. In August 2019, for example, at least 134,000 residents in 14 sub-districts in Gunung Kidul were affected by extreme drought, and had added difficulty of getting clean water. Some of them even resorted to selling livestock for water.

Amidst this adversity, there is one area in Gunung Kidul which in recent years has never experienced a drought, the Gedoro village in Patuk District. It was discovered that this happened partly because the residents there consistently protected the forest in their area. By ensuring the forest’s sustainability, their water source continues to provide. How did this initiative start? What lessons can be learnt?  And what could the future water crisis be like in Indonesia if things remain unchanged?

Planting Trees, Preserving Water

In the 1970s, large sections of the community forest in the Gedoro village were cleared by the residents themselves. After the emergence of various problems such as reduced water sources and soil erosion, the residents realized that they had to initiate reforestation activities in tens of hectares of deforested forest. It was only in the 1990s that residents of the Gedoro village who were also members of the Ngudi Rejeki Forest Farmers Group (KTH Ngudi Rejeki) consistently planted trees and regulated their use so that the balance of nature was maintained.

They planted tree crops such as teak, acacia, mahogany, rosewood and sengon laut, both in the forest and around their homes. In 2009, KTH Ngudi Rejeki passed a regulation requiring residents to plant five to ten tree seedlings for every tree they cut. “The rules are still in effect today,” said Secretary of KTH Ngudi Rejeki Rendy Kurnia Adhitama in a personal interview with the authors. After 20 years, trees are now growing densely in the village.

Rendy also shared that reforestation has supported the availability of water in the area, during both the dry and rainy seasons. From an initial three springs, it has now increased to eight. These increased water sources are more than sufficient to provide water for the approximately 260 people who live in the village. In 2018, for its efforts to preserve the environment, KTH Ngudi Rejeki received the Kalpataru award from the government.

“We are very grateful for this condition,” said Rendy. “Therefore, as much as possible we do not cut much, but continue to plant,”

The head of the Gedoro village, Wartono, told the authors that the nature preserving attitude in fact encourages other activities that are more environmentally friendly. Hillside terraces were maintained regularly. Organic and inorganic waste were better managed to be used as fertilizer and other recycled crafts. The existence of the forest has also encouraged the return of animals, such as the punglor bird, starling, and turtledove.

Trees in this community forest also have an economic benefit for the residents. A number of residents use wood to make handicraft products, which they sell thereby increasing their standard of living. Consequently, school dropout rates reduced. In the past, residents in this village only studied up to junior high school, but now the younger generation have continued their studies to universities.

“Now our KTH activities have become a model for other farmer groups. We hope more and more parties will imitate our efforts,” said Wartono.

What has transpired in Gedoro was replicated in other areas such as in the Nglipar and Semoyo areas, also located in Gunung Kidul. Environmental activist from the Volunteer Alliance for Nature Saving (AruPA) Sugeng Triyanto shared with the authors that tree planting by farmer groups in those two areas contributed to the surplus supply of water. Based on AruPA’s records, this has also occurred in Wonogiri, Purworejo and Boyolali in Central Java.

Aligned with the saying, “you reap what you sow”, the authors argue the outcomes of how we treat nature is dependent of human nature. Evidently, decades of tree planting by KTH Ngudi Rejeki have ensured the availability of water throughout the year. This also demonstrates the importance of the community playing an active role while supported by the government.

An Inevitable Clean Water Crisis

The biggest factor causing the water crisis in Java is climate change which causes more water evaporation due to increasing temperatures. This problem was confounded by the massive conversion of land use from infiltration areas to settlements and industrial areas, thus threatening water sources in Java.

Based on predictions, Java will experience an increase in water deficit until 2070. Furthermore, climate change will not only result in reduced clean water and sanitation, but also water pollution, loss of water biodiversity, droughts and floods.

Recognizing the threat, and the government is taking several steps to anticipate the worsening water scarcity. Dozens of dam construction projects and the revitalization of reservoirs and lakes are in progress, although some think that these efforts are not enough. Data from the Directorate General of Water Resources (Ditjen SDA) of the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR Ministry) stated that until November 2020, 15 of the target 61 dams have been completed.  About 46 others are still under construction. Subsequently, as many as 18 new dams are planned to be built in the period 2020-2024.

The government has also been encouraged to use modern technology to recycle marginal water such as brackish water into clean water. This method has been done in other countries such as in the Middle East where sea water is distilled into drinking water.

Similarly, the founder of the Indonesia Water Institute (IWI) Firdaus Ali also encouraged the government to build modern clean water infrastructure accessible by all Indonesians.  This is because only 21.8% of Indonesia’s total population was being served by clean water supply companies.  “Raw water in Indonesia is abundant, around 3.9 trillion cubic meters. However, it does not reach the community because clean water infrastructure is still limited and its management is still far from what it should be,” said Firdaus.

The challenges of the present and future water crisis should not be underestimated. As the crisis is worsening incrementally, communities may not even be aware of the impending disaster. It is, thus, pertinent for increased public awareness of the climate crisis and its consequences. The remarkable development that has occurred in Gedoro village and other similar areas is not impossible to be replicated elsewhere. The key is the willingness to start and remain committed to solving the issue.

Part 1: Tackling Riverine Litter in Indonesia: All Contributions Matter

Part 3: Valuing Water through Community Empowerment in Malaysia

Part4: The Inconspicuous Truth of Singapore’s Water: Cleaned rather than Clean

A Four-Part Series on Water (Part 1: Riverine Litter in Indonesia)

Introduction

With a population of more than 271 million, Indonesia is struggling to combat riverine litter that is worsening in line with population growth. Riverine litter is often overlooked while the awareness of marine litter is rising. This is despite rivers being the main pathway of land-based marine litter which entails around 80% of the total marine litter. One of the rivers in Indonesia that is in a dire state due to being heavily polluted by litter is the Citarum River. This river located inWest Java, is considered the world’s most polluted river.

The Worsening Riverine Litter

Water pollution was found to be the second environmental issue that Indonesians were concerned about, the first being waste management. These two concerns are related because one form of water pollution is mismanaged waste. However, if these concerns were contrasted with the existing riverine litter condition, their concerns are not aligned with current realities and practices. Rivers in Indonesia are prone to littering by irresponsible communities because their wastes are no longer their concern as they travel away, along the rivers.

Though the current data on the amount of litter entering rivers in Indonesia is unavailable,  in 2008, it was estimated to be 600,000 tons. It is, thus, highly likely that the current figure is much higher today.This is evident as the percentage of villages that disposed domestic waste to the aquatic environment including rivers rose 20% from 2014 to 2018. It was also discovered that around 500,000 m³ (an equivalent of 170,000 tons of household waste) of waste enter the Citarum river annually.

Link between Riverine Litter and Public Health

Rivers are a major water resource heavily depended on by Indonesians. Rural communities directly use water resources from rivers for sanitation, agriculture or aquaculture purposes. Meanwhile, the Regional Water Utility Company (PDAM) in Indonesia’s major cities routinely processes huge volumes of water sourced from the river and distributes it to municipal households as  tap water.

Though there are limited studies on the link between riverine litter and health, it is likely that such litter can indirectly contribute to public health problems. Of particular concern is how riverine litter perpetuates river flooding and consequently, sanitation problems.  Litter that is found at the bottom and the surface of rivers can impede river flow causing water levels to rise. Litter can also clog flood pumps which decreases the pumps’ abilities to extrude flood water.

In February 2021, some areas in Semarang, the capital of Central Java, were hit by river floods due to extreme rainfall. Those exposed to flood waters were found to develop skin diseases. To confound matters, due to the difficulty in maintaining physical distancing in crowded shelters, those who sought assistance faced an increased risk of exposure to COVID-19. Officially, the cause of these floods were attributed to clogging by litter. “The litter piles were found on many rivers. Our record from previous years remains the same, it is litter clogging” said Regional Secretary of Semarang Government, Iswar Aminuddin.

Another health threat of riverine litter is microplastics which are formed by the incomplete degradation of larger plastics. There is abundant evidence of the presence of microplastics in river basins and sediments as well as river biota. Microplastics are also found in tap water in Indonesia. This means that litter thrown into the river is finding its way back to its originator. Although Indonesians rarely drink tap water, they may inevitably consume microplastics as their presence has been found in commercial fishes derived from river aquaculture.

Plastic has been proven harmful to the human body. Bisphenols and phthalates, the addictive substances of plastic are able to disrupt the endocrine system. This increases the risk of biological and physiological malfunction. Microplastics can also adsorb hydrophobic hazardous chemicals such as pesticide in the surrounding water, increasing their danger to humans. It is, thus, imperative to prevent the ingestion of microplastics.

The Need for All Stakeholders to be Involved

To address riverine litter, preventing waste from entering rivers is crucial. Currently, there are national regulations on waste management to guide local governments in managing waste. Such national regulations are important as local governments play a strategic role in implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of such efforts on the ground.

The national waste management policy is outlined in the constitutional regulation UU No.18/2008. Moreover, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MEF) established the PerMenLHK No.10/2018 as the base regulation for local governments to formulate their household waste management policies and strategies. The Ministry of General Works and Public Housing also provided technical guidance to manage household waste management via PerMenPUPR No.3/2013 while the Ministry of Health (MoH)  described the Communities-Based Total Sanitation (STBM) program regulated in PerMenkes No.3/2014.

Despite these complete constitutional regulations, its implementation at the regional levels were not conducted equally. Run by only regency/city-scale Environmental or Cleanliness Agencies, household waste management services are only prioritized in urban areas and public places. There are still many settlements including those located on river banks that are not reached by these agencies that facilitate the disposal of wastes to recyclingcenters or  landfills. Due to a limited allocated budget for local waste management, the number of waste facilities are also limited and unequally distributed in Indonesia. The unequal distribution of waste facilities leads to weak enforcement as the punishment for littering is not well implemented.

This is evident in Sumedang where Yosep Suhayat, Chief of Sumedang Environmental Agency admitted that the number of municipal waste facilities is limited. Thus, the government cannot blame the communities that improperly dispose of their waste. His statement was in response to the overloaded waste transportation system in his working sites. Bounded by limited budget, his team promised to clean-up the remaining litter in the area.

The authorities responsible in household waste management must also coordinate closely to address this issue.  The Environmental Agency should re-evaluate the strategy to maximize the limited waste facilities such as re-setting the waste collection routes, transport site locations and human resources based on settlement layouts developed by the General Works Agency, to effectively manage waste.

Additionally, community-based waste management is proven to be an effective initiative to address the limited household waste management system. Communities have to be responsible for managing their own waste despite the absence of public waste facilities. The Health Agency plays a pivotal role to encourage behavioural changes in communities toward proper waste management, based on the STBM program. Simultaneously, the Environmental Agency facilitates the local waste management strategy and technical procedure.

Some local governments have started regulating  limitations on single-used plastics. As plastics are the major waste found in rivers, this regulation effectively reduces the use of single-used plastics, especially plastic bags.

Impeding an effective limitation of plastic, the recycling industry association and the Ministry of Industry stated that such regulations can disrupt the national economy as plastic and rubber contributes nearly IDR 92 trillion (~USD 6.4 billion) to the gross domestic productand employs around 30,000 workers in the plastic bag industry alone.

In 2019, the MEF developed a waste reduction roadmap regulation on PerMenLHK No.75/2019, targeting producers; product manufacturers, food and beverage industries and retails. This is to inculcate a sense of responsibility in these producers and to create a circular economy. It was found that  products from various big companies have polluted the river, ranging from; food, personal care and toiletries products.

The regulation encourages producers to re-design and ensurethat their product packaging is biodegradable, reusable or recyclable. Producers are also encouraged to reuse or recycle their waste products. Collectively, these encourage a paradigm shift where waste is only collected, transported and disposed of. Instead, it should also contribute to economic growth. Notably, during the COVID-19 pandemic, waste recycling enterprises are enjoying positive economic growth amidst national economic recession.

This regulation can also address complaints of economic stakeholders as the plastic industry can still operate fully, using the waste as their materials. However, reducing plastic pollution can only be achieved if the regulation is implemented completely and systematically leading to a gradual reduction of demand for virgin plastic as well as escalating demand for recycled plastic. Imperatively, producers must be fully committed to tackling litter pollution as well as create a sustainable system. If this is not yet viable, limiting plastic consumption is still the best option.

Conclusion

Tackling riverine litter as well as mitigating its impact to public health requires strong coordination between local authorities responsible for managing household waste. Communities and producers also play a vital part by being responsible for the waste they produce.

Part 2: Sustainable Water: Lessons from an Indonesian Community Forest in a “Barren Village”

Part 3: Valuing Water through Community Empowerment in Malaysia

Part4: The Inconspicuous Truth of Singapore’s Water: Cleaned rather than Clean