By James Massola and Amilia Rosa
Batam: Indonesian authorities have rejected a 13-tonne container full of plastic recycling waste from Australia after it was found to be contaminated with toxic materials, and they intend to send it back.
The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald have confirmed that among 65 containers of international waste currently impounded on the docks of Batam's sprawling Batu Ampar port, one comes from Australia.
A container of Australian plastic waste impounded at the port of Batam, Indonesia.Credit: Amilia Rosa
Indonesia imports plastic waste from western countries as feed stock for recycling plants even though it is second only to China when it comes to dumping plastic waste in the world's oceans.
In an exclusive interview, the head of the region's Customs office, Susila Brata, said the Australian container was packed with waste considered toxic under Indonesian law. He confirmed that it had come from Melbourne.
Jammed inside that container were tonnes of ordinary items from the recycling bins of Australian households - empty Omo and Dynamo containers, Western Star butter, Greek Yoghurt and Streets Blue Ribbon tubs, Morning Fresh cleaning liquid, building products such as silicon sealant and dozens of car engine oil bottles. There was even a broken recycling bin from Melton City Council.
A black industrial sludge lined the bottom of the container and maggots were visible too.
The entire container is considered toxic by the Indonesian Environment department and is not acceptable for import. Thirty-eight of the containers on the dock, including the Australian container, have tested positive for "B3" waste.
B3 is short for Bahan Berbahaya dan Beracun - hazardous and toxic materials - and includes waste which can directly or indirectly damage or pollute the environment and endanger human health, as well as medical waste, materials that could be explosive, inflammable, reactive, infectious or corrosive. The Indonesian environment department's test results, which will confirm exactly what toxic material is present, are due to be released next week.
Plastic waste can be exported to Indonesia for recycling under Trade Ministry regulation 31 from 2016 as long as it is not "B3" waste. Plastic recycling is big business in Batam and it has grown rapidly since China turned the global recycling market upside down in January 2018 by effectively banning the importation of plastic waste.
A western star butter container among the 13.7 tonnes of waste.Credit: Amilia Rosa
Customs chief Mr Susila said that, as in ports around the world, it was impossible for his officers to inspect every container that arrived at Batam. But acting on a tip-off from his intelligence unit, the 65 containers had been seized, inspected and found to be suspect. It was at that point the Environment department was called in to conduct testing for B3 contamination.
The impounded containers were from France, Germany, Hong Kong and the United States, as well as Australia.
"The Australian container was visibly contaminated with trash, so we did a test. It was the stench, the colour and the type of plastic items," he said.
"This is the first batch of containers that were intercepted. There were previous imports from these companies, but because previous imports passed the administrative requirements they were allowed in. We stopped these ones because of an intelligence report from our officers."
"Customs' job is to advise the results of the tests to the importers and they are obligated to re-export it. The Environment ministry has finished the testing and found the Australian container is contaminated with B3 [toxic waste]."
The Indonesian importer must bear the cost of shipping the waste back.
Mr Susila would not reveal the name of the company in Melbourne that had inspected the waste and approved it for export to Indonesia, nor the name of the company in Melbourne that originally collected the household waste.
The Australian waste was due to be used by the Indonesian company Royal Citra Bersama.
Company owner Amin said he had been operating his business for 20 year and had recently expanded to import valuable plastic waste from overseas that could be recycled into plastic pellets that he then sold to overseas companies in Australia, China and the US to make new plastic products such as drink bottles.
Why [should we accept this rubbish]? It would be a problem. We were lied to.
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan
"What we import is 'raw materials' and we follow the rules. We followed every regulation and requirement. We only pay once a certificate is issued [by a survey and inspection company in Indonesia] saying the materials comply with the regulations," he said.
"We have that certificate in hand. For [this container] to arrive and found to be contaminated with B3, I don't know where things went wrong. I am not pointing fingers and blaming anyone, we are going to obey the government. If they say we have to re-export we will do so instantly."
"I've learned my lesson, I will stop importing raw materials, this batch will be the last. I will go back to recycling local waste, I will have to downsize from 300 employees to maybe 30. Recycling is a good thing, it saves the environment."
Under Indonesian law, the contaminated containers have to be shipped back within 90 days.
The Australian container is among 65 impounded at Batam.Credit: Amilia Rosa
The situation in Batam is different to that in East Java, where environmental groups recently uncovered plastic waste being smuggled in shipments of waste paper, including from Australia.
Other countries in south-east Asia, including in Thailand and Malaysia, have also cracked down on the importation of plastic waste and are preparing to ship back toxic plastic waste.
Malaysia is expected to be the first south-east Asian country to ship waste back to Australia, but Indonesia is poised to follow suit. Environment Minister Sussan Ley told The Australian last month that waste sent back to Australia could be subject to hazardous waste permits.
Indonesian customs official examines Australia's contaminated plastic waste at Batam port. Credit: Amilia Rosa
Mr Susila said the importing of plastic waste to Batam had increased since the middle of last year by "more than 100 per cent, at least".
A spokesman for Batam's local environment department said there were 50 recycling companies operating in Batam. About 5 per cent of the plastic handled by these companies, including imported material, cannot be recycled. That equates to about 1000 tonnes per month of plastic waste, including from Australia, ending up in landfill on the small Indonesian island.
In addition, the spokesman said that the waste water created by cleaning the plastic before it was turned into plastic pellets could contaminate the environment if B3 waste was being recycled.
The city is trying to curtail investment in and approval of new recycling factories in the region because of the environmental impact. In March, plastic waste recycling company PT San Hai was shut down by Batam's mayor for operating without a permit.
Another one of the 65 containers examined by Indonesia's Environment Department and which Customs provided access to was from the United States. It contained thousands and thousands of medicine bottles and it, too, will be sent back to the US within 90 days of its arrival in early June.
And 11 containers at the port have been found to hold plastic waste that was supposed to be recycled but which cannot be because it is mixed with rubbish.
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said on Tuesday other countries in the region such as Philippines and Malaysia had rejected plastic waste imports too and that "the bottom line is, we don't want it".
"Why [should we accept it?], it would be a problem. We were lied to. Look at what happened in East Java. They said it was [scrap] paper waste but as a matter of fact it was plastic."
With Karuni Rompies