The Indonesian government is launching a new program to pay fishermen to collect plastic waste from the ocean.
The program will run from October 1-26 and is part of a larger initiative to cut marine plastic waste in the country by 70% by 2025.
As reported by Mongabay:
“The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries said on Oct. 4 that it had budgeted 1.03 billion rupiah ($67,600) to pay 1,721 fishers across the archipelago for any plastic trash they collected daily from Oct. 1-26. It said the money, which works out to about 150,000 rupiah ($10) per fisher per week, would serve as compensation for their not fishing during this period. That’s slightly more than the 140,000 rupiah ($9) per week that the ministry estimates they earn from fishing.”
…
“Indonesia is one of the largest contributors to marine plastic pollution in the world. The country produces about 6.8 million metric tons of plastic waste annually, according to a 2017 survey by the Indonesia National Plastic Action Partnership. Only 10% of that waste is processed in the approximately 1,300 recycling centers in the country, while nearly the same amount, about 620,000 metric tons, winds up in the ocean.”
The government initiative could prove as an effective means to employ incentives to solve the issue plastic of marine plastic waste. Too often, government initiatives are focused on penalties and restrictions, rather than motivating the private sector to actually help.
Whether it will be a wise use of public funds remains to be seen.
Read the full article in Mongabay here.
* This article was originally published here
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