President Joko Widodo raised the issues of hazardous and toxic waste in the 14th East Asian Summit, held in the IMPACT Arena, Nonthaburi, Thailand Monday.

"The President conveyed efforts to prevent the shipment of hazardous and toxic waste," said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi who accompanied President Jokowi to the meeting that was attended by 18 countries. It was previously reported that several ASEAN countries had received containers filled with waste, which include hazardous and toxic waste.

The amount of such waste sent to Indonesia, up until October this year, had reached 2,194 containers.

"The Indonesian Customs and Ministry of Environment and Forestry examined 822 containers, after which 374 containers were returned to their countries of origin," Marsudi said.

There are another 210 containers containing raw materials of recycled paper and plastic mixed with hazardous and toxic waste that are in the process of being sent back to various countries, such as France, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Belgium, England, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Canada, and Japan, The Indonesian Customs and Excise previously stated.

Most of the contaminated containers have been sent from the United States and Germany, added Directorate General of Customs and Excise of the Ministry of Finance Heru Pambudi.

The Indonesian government firmly rejects the import of paper and plastic raw materials mixed with hazardous and toxic waste, Director of Waste and Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Rosa Vivien, stated. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the importers who are still carrying out these acts, to send them back.

Aside from hazardous and toxic waste, President Jokowi also touched on cooperation in marine debris management. In this field, ASEAN has cooperated with Australia and New Zealand.

Furthermore, Jokowi conveyed Indonesia's commitment to achieving the target of reducing marine waste down to 70 percent by 2025.

"In this context, the President is pushing for a global movement against plastic waste," Marsudi said. (ANTARA)