09 Oct 2023 --- Prevented Ocean Plastic Southeast Asia (POPSEA) has opened a collection center in North Jakarta, Indonesia, as a part of the company’s mission to set up recycling infrastructure in underserved communities across the country. We speak to journalist Benedict Wermter, who is actively reporting on pollution and waste management in Indonesia about the POPSEA project. While Wermter says that such waste management initiatives are “urgently” needed in Indonesia, he also flags that the POPSEA press release includes the “usual PR spectacle and name-dropping of stakeholders around those relatively small schemes.” “Instead, as the entire plastic supply chain knows it needs to be mandatorily funded, widespread collection schemes grow out of local communities and businesses,” asserts Wermter.
