November 27, 2025 | 04:11 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Companies importing electronic waste continue to operate in Batam. The law is only effective on paper.
THERE is another irony in this country. While President Prabowo Subianto is loudly calling for an “anti-foreign lackey” stance, businesses are busy importing waste from overseas: from used clothing from South Korea, to radioactive scrap iron from Chinese companies and, the latest example, electronic waste discarded in the United States.
Only recently, the Ministry of Environment and Batam Customs Office thwarted the attempted “smuggling in” of 613 containers of electronic waste at Batu Ampar Port in Batam City, Riau Islands. The waste was allegedly imported by Esun International Utama Indonesia using the free trade zone facility.
Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq has admitted that many corporations, like Esun, have long acted as if they were above the law. Previously, similar cases allegedly involved Logam Internasional Jaya and Batam Battery Recycle Industries, both of which also operate in Batam. Mere acknowledgment is not enough. The Ministry of Environment should not allow these companies, which clearly have the potential to pollute the environment, to continue operating.
The Environmental Protection and Management Law explicitly bans anyone from importing trash and waste containing hazardous and toxic materials, like those in discarded electronics, into Indonesia. The penalties for those who import such substances are severe: between five and 15 years in prison as well as a fine ranging from Rp5 billion to 15 billion. But these threats on paper are meaningless when there is poor or non-existent law enforcement on the ground.
It is essential that there be resolute law enforcement, especially for those who have repeatedly breached the regulations. For example, Esun shareholder Tonny Permana was embroiled in a case of alleged illegal waste import in 2019. The Batam Free Zone Authority (BP Batam) discovered 65 containers filled with thousands of tons of electronic waste. But this case subsequently seemed to vanish into thin air.
Worse still, these companies are uncooperative when asked to re-export the waste back to its country of origin. The re-export provision allows a 90-day period. Exceeding this deadline puts hundreds of containers filled with thousands of tons of electronic waste at risk of causing numerous problems. Who, then, will bear the costs and risks of handling this hazardous waste?
As long as this hazardous waste remains in Batu Ampar Port, there will be an increasing risk of environmental contamination. Electronic components contain a number of dangerous chemical substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, chlorinated paraffins, chlorinated dioxins, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These substances can damage vital organs and nervous systems and even cause cancer in people exposed to them.
It was this very risk that led to the Basel Convention, initiated by the United Nations and came into force in 1992. This convention limits, controls, and prohibits the transnational movement of hazardous waste from developed to developing countries. Indonesia ratified it in 1993.
Even without the Basel Convention, common sense should be enough to understand that the risks of electronic waste far outweigh the economic benefits. Developed nations choose to dispose of this waste overseas precisely because its management is complicated and expensive. Why, then, is our nation willing to become the world’s garbage dump?
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