Speaking to journalists after meeting with the representatives of the company here, Sabrina said, "The Swedish investors said North Sumatra has been potentially chosen as their investment destination. We are ready to work with them."

The North Sumatra provincial government itself has planned to build a large landfill and is keen to adopt Japan's style of managing its waste, Sabrina said.

"This waste management sector can later produce energy and other valuable products, including fertilizers," she said.

According to Business Sweden's consultant, Fuad Hasan, the Swedish investors were interested in investing or cooperating with related authorities in the waste management sector due to its huge potential.

"In Indonesia, the Swedish company has handled waste management in Sunter, North Jakarta," said Hasan, who was accompanied by the Swedish Energy Agency's Country Manager, Paul Westin, and Business Sweden's Consultant, Farida, at the meeting.

The Swedish company is prepared to work with the North Sumatra Environment Agency in the waste management sector, he added.

Waste has become a common problem for lots of regional and provincial governments. In terms of plastic bags, some 9.8 billion plastic bags are used in Indonesia every year, and almost 95 percent of them end up as waste.

The total number of plastic straws used by Indonesians daily reaches some 93 million, an increase from nine percent in 1995 to 16 percent in 2018, according to the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry.

In this regard, the West Java provincial government, for instance, has revealed its keenness to turn plastic waste into low-carbon fuels. West Java Governor, Ridwan Kamil, recently visited the United Kingdom-based Plastic Energy Limited.

At his meeting with the representatives of Plastic Energy Limited at their headquarters, he discussed issues related to an investment worth Rp3 trillion to turn plastic waste into diesel fuel.

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