Skip to main content
WWF
National Opportunity Assessment

Indonesia

Mapping the plastic waste landscape, regulatory, and investment environment to identify scalable opportunities for addressing plastic waste and building towards No Plastic in Nature

A tiered building next to water

© The Circulate Initiative

About the assessment

Research in the assessment breaks down across four key dimensions: Socioeconomic, Plastic Flows, Regulatory, and Funding.

  • Indonesia is recognized as the second most biodiverse country, but approximately 13% or around 5 million hectares of Indonesia’s land-based biodiversity hotspots are threatened by plastic pollution.
  • With a population of 287 million representing more than 600 ethnic groups, Indonesia is the most populous country in Southeast Asia and the fourth most populous in the world.
  • It is composed of over 17,500 islands, meaning significant coastlines that increase the risks of plastic pollution entering the ocean.
  • Indonesia is SE Asia’s largest economy and the country’s annual GDP growth has remained stable at around 5% over the past five years.
  • Indonesia is a net importer of oil and plastics, with the food and beverage industry being the largest consumer of plastics, accounting for 60% (4.5 MT) of total consumption.
  • Advancing circular systems in Indonesia is critical for meeting global conservation goals, and the country has significant national ambitions to tackle plastic pollution.

Summary

Key Headwinds

  • As Southeast Asia’s largest economy, Indonesia has a predictable baseline supply of plastic feedstock needed to secure long-term investment in fixed recycling infrastructure.​
  • The ban on plastic waste imports and soon-to-be announced mandatory extended producer responsibility (EPR) are increasing pressure to fund domestic collection infrastructure.​
  • Emerging end markets, such as automotive, could create reliable, high-value demand for lower-value polyolefins.​
  • Co-locating sorting hubs at local waste sites in outer-island regions helps pool regional supply, and could reduce inter-island shipping costs.​

Key Tailwinds

  • Lack of formal collection infrastructure leads to high contamination, and dependence on two million informal waste pickers creates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment risks. ​
  • The government’s commitment to invest in waste-to-energy (WtE) could result in less plastic waste being available for recycling.​
  • Demand for PET is saturated, as local manufacturers favor lower-cost virgin resin over recycled content.​
  • Institutional funds seek large deployments (US$ 10 million+), but recyclers and aggregators require much smaller capital injections (less than US$ 5 million).​

Socioeconomic

Sustainable Development

  • GDP per capita is $5,000 USD, with 60% of Indonesians residing in urban areas.
  • Indonesia ranks 74th out of 169 countries on the Sustainable Development Goals Index, showing moderate overall progress across most goals.
  • Indonesia’s major challenges are in areas such as Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions (SDG 16).
Lift Collaborative Indonesia Stats NOA 2026

Progress Toward Sustainable Development Goals

Lift Collaborative Sustainable Development Report NOA 2026

© Cottom et al. ; Sustainable Waste Indonesia

Plastic flows

Lift Collaborative Primary Forms of Plastic Chart NOA 2026

Plastic Production

  • 8.7 million metric tonnes of plastic feedstock enter Indonesia annually.
  • 54% is produced domestically, with 19% of domestic supply coming from recycled feedstock.
  • Domestic capacity remains insufficient to meet demand, driving continued reliance on imported virgin plastics.
Lift Collaborative Total Waste Chart NOA 2026

Plastic Waste Generation and Management

  • Indonesia produces 5.5 million metric tons of plastic waste annually, making plastic pollution a critical challenge.
  • 19% of plastic waste leaks into the environment, 37% goes to landfill, 9% to energy recovery, and 35% is collected for recycling.
  • An estimated two million informal waste workers, or pemulung, account for approximately 90% of plastic waste collection.
  • Indonesia has an estimated 3 million metric tons of installed recycling capacity, with utilization at just 55%.

Regulatory

Policies Governing Plastic Waste

  • Key policies include the national ban on plastic waste imports, regional bans on single-use plastics, and the upcoming EPR and recycled content mandates.
  • The import ban is reshaping the recycling industry and increasing reliance on domestic supply chains.
  • Policy discussions are expanding beyond waste collection to recycled content, ecolabeling, and packaging design.

Implemented Policies and Regulations

  • Ban on single-use plastics
    Some regional and local regulations ban single-use plastics in retail markets, but not in traditional markets. There is currently no national regulation in place. Indonesia aims to end single-use plastic use nationally by 2029.
  • National waste segregation
    Mandates every waste generator to conduct waste segregation; however, there is no enforcement on the ground. Jakarta began enforcing mandatory household waste segregation on May 10, 2026, amid landfill overcapacity.
  • Waste management coverage
    Targets 100% waste management coverage by 2029, including full collection and treatment coverage.
  • Recycled content rate directive
    ​    A directive under the 2020-2029 waste reduction roadmap requiring producers to use 50% recycled content in plastic packaging across polymer types.​
  • Plastic waste trade restrictions
    Indonesia has long had restrictions on plastic waste imports. More recently, it introduced stricter controls on plastic waste imports, effective January 1, 2025.
  • Ratification of the Basel Convention
    Indonesia is a party to the Basel Convention.
  • WtE as an end-of-life solution
    Sets out the framework and requirements for developing and operating urban WtE projects.

Source: Various regulatory sources​

Investing in Circularity

Overview of Funding of Waste Management and Plastics Circularity

  • The Indonesian government estimated ~US$14 billion is needed to fund waste management between 2025 and 2029.
  • An estimated US$ 5.8 billion was invested from 2018 to 2025, led by government funding (70%), Development Finance (22%), Official Development Assistance (6%), and private-sector funding (2%).
  • Most investment opportunities require less than USD$ 5 million, creating a mismatch with investors seeking larger deals.
  • Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund prioritizes Waste-to-Energy, widening the funding gap and inhibiting the growth of recycling by diverting plastic feedstock to lower value use.

Plastics Circularity Funding Sources

Government Budget1:US$ 4.1B (2018-2025)
Operational expenditure and infrastructure establishment

Development Finance2: US$ 1.3B (2018-2025)
Mostly goes to waste management improvement projects and marine debris reduction

Official Development Assistance (ODA)3: US$ 338M (2018-2024)
Mostly goes to waste management and capacity-building projects

Private Sector4: US$ 90M (2018-2025)
Mostly goes to downstream solutions (recycling and recovery), with few deals in alternative materials and refill/reuse

—

[1] Includes solid waste management (SWM) budget from national, provincial, and regional governments; some figures are estimated based on assumptions and calculations; [2] Figures include only projects focused exclusively on SWM in Indonesia and represent funding commitments rather than actual disbursements; [3] ODA values are based on disbursements; [4] Value is derived only from disclosed deals.​

Source: The Circulate Initiative analysis; OECD; Ministry of Environment; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency; and other public sources.

Learn more