Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Waste management · Indonesia · 2018–2019

Indonesia returns 883 of 2,194 flagged waste containers

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 3 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Indonesia sent 883 of 2,194 flagged import containers back to their countries of origin, according to a 2019 report. Paper waste bales that reached East Java in 2018 were reported to hold 30–35% plastic, against a 2% legal limit.

What?
Indonesia sent 883 of 2,194 flagged containers back to their countries of origin. Hukumonline
Where?
East Java, Indonesia Tirto
When?
Paper imports in 2018; container returns reported in November 2019 Hukumonline
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Bales of paper waste held 30–35% plastic and household waste, against a 2% legal limit; containers were flagged and partly returned. Tirto
5 of 6 questions answered from the record · open: who

What happened

The record, in order.

Hukumonline reported in November 2019 that Indonesia had returned 883 of 2,194 flagged containers to their countries of origin.

Tirto reported that 738,665 tonnes of paper waste arrived in East Java in 2018, with plastic and household waste making up 30–35% of the bales.

Tirto put the legal limit for such contamination at 2%.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: plastic in the bales is burned in tofu kilns, and eggs in the area had dioxin at 70 times the standard.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: an inspection company said contamination was below 2%.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: New Zealand's exports included 12,000 tonnes to Indonesia, and Indonesia returned three New Zealand containers.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not name who gained from the paper imports or who paid for cleanup.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. Pemerintah Reekspor Limbah Impor
      Hukumonline · 2019-11

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Similar cases
    Waste management · Chemical pollution · Indonesia · 2024–2026
    Indonesia waste-to-energy (PSEL) tariff and Danantara
    Same type: Waste managementSame countryHarm to nature not measured
    Waste management · Indonesia · 2026
    Eight winners named in Indonesia's waste-to-energy tenders, including Chandra Asri unit
    Same type: Waste managementSame countryHarm to nature not measured
    Waste management · India · 2019
    India SATAT compost and compressed biogas shortfalls; Indore bio-CNG plant
    Same type: Waste managementSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Waste management · India · date not stated
    Ghazipur landfill and India legacy-waste claims
    Same type: Waste managementSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Waste management · China · date not stated
    Firms paid 569 million yuan over waste water evaporated in Tengger Desert ponds
    Same type: Waste managementSame regionHarm to nature not measured
    Waste management · Japan · 1956–1988
    Chisso executives sentenced over Minamata disease in 1979
    Same type: Waste managementSame regionHarm to nature not measured