Plastic Prices Skyrocket, Government Attempts to Cap Increase at Maximum 30 Percent

YOGYAKARTA – The recent surge in plastic prices has been widely complained about by the public. The increase is even described as unreasonable, reaching two to three times the original price in the market, thereby burdening daily needs, especially for small and medium enterprises in the food sector.

Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs, Zulkifli Hasan, stated that the government is striving to curb the rise in plastic prices. He acknowledged that this price increase is directly influenced by global oil import prices.

“Because plastic depends on oil imports, right,” said Zulhas to reporters at SMA N 1 Depok, Sleman Regency, on Thursday (16/4/2026).

According to him, the government is not standing idle in the face of the field increases that have already reached 60 to 70 percent. Currently, the government is summoning several plastic pellet entrepreneurs to find solutions to press down the price surge.

“We are addressing it; we are calling some entrepreneurs for plastic pellets. We’ll see how to ensure the increase isn’t too much, around 30 percent, but in the market, some have reached 60 to 70 percent, something like that. So it should be around 30 percent if it rises,” he said.

On the other hand, Zulhas also opened the possibility of using alternative materials to replace plastic. He assessed that Indonesia has abundant organic resources that can be utilised to reduce dependence on oil-based plastic.

“If that’s possible, replacing plastic with organic would be excellent,” he stated.