How to tackle plastic waste realistically? The case of packaging and service ware in the fast food industry in Semarang, Indonesia

Abstract

Globally, Indonesia is the second largest generator of unmanaged plastic waste. The Indonesian government aims for a reduction of plastic waste of 70% by 2025. One of the main contributors to the problem is packaging waste of fast food restaurants. In this paper the packaging waste of twelve fast food chains in Semarang (Java) is analysed, and its environmental impact assessed by calculating plastic and carbon footprints in the period of 2019-2022. For each chain, between 30-100% of the restaurants in Semarang are included in the research, representing a sample of half the locations. Subsequently, five possible solutions, taken from the 10R circularity model, are discussed, showing that the options ‘recycling’ and ‘waste-to-energy’ are  most feasible. Also, it is found that return rates are lagging behind, so the collection system should be improved to create economies of scale and to minimize volumes of unmanaged waste. Also, ‘reduce’ is a good scenario, volume wise it has less impact yet it has no disadvantages and may create awareness amongst consumers. ‘Renew’ may contribute to recycling by changing material composition of the packaging. ‘Reuse’ is not recommended as cleaning causes high carbon footprints. The other five Rs were not applicable in this case. Issues for further research include obtaining better data on packaging plastics volumes as sources are inconsistent, exploring options to improve collection and to avoid competition between recycling and waste to energy. It is finally concluded that reducing plastic waste from fast food chains can significantly contribute to reducing marine litter.