It was with great pleasure that I accepted an invite to attend a BBQ at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta while I was there this month. The Aussies certainly know how to throw a BBQ! It was a great event and to network with many exporters of Australian produce and to also discover many success stories of Australian businesses operating within Indonesia. There is a strong relationship between Indonesia and Australia, and we should continue to encourage it. I said ‘hi’ to our PM as he rushed by and was able to clarify with a few of his advisors that the much discussed ‘export ban’ of plastics is more a ban of mixed ‘hazardous’ waste.
There should be no issue in exporting streams of non-hazardous waste from Australia, dependant on price and subject to whenever our import license is granted. We certainly hope that Re>Pal’s technology can be brought to bear on handling Australian waste, processed and upcycled in Indonesia, adding jobs in Indonesia. Potentially with some access to the grants discussed by the Prime Minister in his recent press announcements on the issue of plastic waste, there is even the potential for Re>Pal technology to be utilised in other countries.
