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Indonesia, the world’s second-biggest plastic polluter, has imposed a new levy on plastic bags — but experts say it is a tiny step towards ridding the nation of the biggest visible blight of its land and waters.
The country ranks second only to China as the world’s largest plastic polluter, according to a University of Georgia-led study of coastal countries last year. The result is clogged waterways and threatened marine life, hurting the country’s fishing and tourism industries.
The new levy on plastic bags, 9.6m of which handed out every day, came into effect on Sunday in 23 cities and regions, including the capital Jakarta, Surabaya, Indonesia’s second-largest city and Denpasar in Bali. It is due to be rolled out nationwide in June.
Activists warn that the levy may fail to deter shoppers and could be ignored by small retailers given ingrained habits and a poor history of enforcing environmental rules. The scheme follows more piecemeal moves in other emerging markets, including parts of China and India, where official curbs on the use of plastic bags have had little effect.
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