High Plastic Prices Change Residents' Behaviour, Reducing Waste

The increase in plastic prices is beginning to change residents’ behaviour in using single-use packaging. As a result, the volume of plastic waste entering the Cimahi Main Waste Bank or Samici has decreased over the last three months.

This decline is viewed as a positive signal because the use of single-use plastic is starting to be curbed. The public now tends to reuse plastic, thereby reducing the waste generated.

Data from Bank Samici records that plastic waste deposits in January 2026 reached 27,517.9 kilograms, then fell to 23,050.6 kilograms in February and further to 22,619.5 kilograms in March. A similar decline occurred in plastic bags, from 959.5 kilograms to 647.1 kilograms over the same period.

Coordinator of Bank Samici, Dewi Eriyanti, stated that the downward trend has been consistent every month, both from group customers and individuals. “Deposits of plastic waste, whether from Unit Waste Banks or from the surrounding community, have decreased. We compile monthly recaps, so from January to March, it has continuously declined,” said Dewi when met at Bank Samici, Jalan KH Usman Dhomiri, Cimahi City, on Thursday (16/4/2026).

According to Dewi, the high price of plastic is encouraging the public to be more prudent in its use. Plastic that was previously single-use is now utilised repeatedly. “Certainly, due to the price increase of plastic on the market, plastic usage naturally decreases. The impact is that plastic waste deposits also decrease because perhaps used plastic is reused for storage and so on, so it’s not single-use,” she explained.