Jakarta Rainwater Contains Microplastics, DKI Provincial Government: Environmental Alarms That Need To Be Responded Quickly
JAKARTA – The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government has responded to the findings of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) which shows that there is microplastic content in rainwater in the capital city.
Head of the DKI Jakarta Environmental Agency (DLH), Asep Kuswanto, assessed that the results of this research are a sign of danger that shows that plastic pollution has now penetrated urban atmospheres.
“We view BRIN’s findings as an environmental alarm that needs to be responded to quickly and collaboratively. Plastic pollution is now not only a matter of the sea or river, but has reached the sky of Jakarta,” Asep said in his statement, Sunday, October 19.
Asep emphasized that his party is strengthening various steps to control plastic waste, from upstream to downstream, including monitoring air quality and rainwater more integrated.
Asep explained that the DKI Provincial Government already has a number of policies to suppress the production and use of single-use plastics. One of them is through Governor Regulation Number 142 of 2019 concerning Obligations to Use Environmentally Friendly Shopping Pockets, as well as the implementation of the Waste Jakstrada program which targets a reduction of 30 percent of waste from the source.
In addition to regulations, Jakarta is also expanding waste banks, 3R polling stations, and community-based recycling initiatives so that plastic waste does not end up in an open environment.
“Efforts to reduce plastic must be carried out from the source, starting from households, industry, to the service sector. Everyone has a role,” said Asep.
The Environment Agency, continued Asep, is now coordinating with BRIN to expand microplastic monitoring in the air and rainwater through the Jakarta Environmental Data Integration (JEDI) system. The data collected will later become the basis for new policies related to controlling plastic pollution in the atmosphere.
This step will also be accompanied by a public campaign entitled ‘Jakarta Without Plastics in the Sky and Earth’ in order to encourage changes in people’s behavior towards the use of single-use plastic and waste management.
“Langit Jakarta is reminding us to be wiser in managing the earth. Behavior change is key,” said Asep.
He added that the DKI Provincial Government will cooperate with the business world, research institutions, and the environmental community to strengthen innovation in reducing plastic and recycling.
“We are open to research collaboration, filtration technology, to the development of environmentally friendly products. Efforts to keep the sky clean from microplastics are a shared responsibility,” he said.
As is known, the research results of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) revealed that rainwater in Jakarta contains dangerous microplastic particles originating from human activities in urban areas.
BRIN researcher Muhammad Reza Cordova explained that research conducted since 2022 shows the presence of microplastics in every rainwater sample in the capital, which is formed from degradation of plastic waste in the air due to human activity.
“This microplastic comes from synthetic fiber clothes, vehicle dust and tires, residual plastic waste burning, and plastic degradation in open spaces,” Reza said in a statement in Jakarta.
He explained that the microplastics found were generally in the form of synthetic fibers and small fragments of plastic, especially polymers such as polyesters, nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene, to polybutadienes from vehicle tires.
On average, he continued, researchers found about 15 microplastic particles per square meter per day in rain samples in the coastal area of Jakarta.
According to Reza, this phenomenon occurs because the plastic cycle has now reached the atmosphere. Microplastics can be lifted into the air through street dust, combustion smoke, and industrial activity, then carried away by the wind and fell back together with rain, known as the amospheric microplastic deposition.
“The plastic cycle does not stop at sea. It rises to the sky, goes around with the wind, then rains again to the earth,” he said.
Reza assessed that these findings raise concerns because microplastic particles are very small, even smoother than ordinary dust, so that they can be inhaled by humans or enter the body through water and food.
“What is toxic is not rainwater, but microplastic particles in it because it contains additive chemicals or absorbs other pollutants,” he continued.
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