Jakarta, July 16 -- The Indonesian government is drafting a ministerial regulation on extended producer responsibility (EPR) to legally mandate that companies manage their product and packaging waste.

Environment Minister Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat said the upcoming regulation aims to shift the financial and logistical burden of waste management away from taxpayers and municipal governments and onto the private sector.

"We will soon issue a ministerial regulation on extended producer responsibility or EPR. We will require them (the private sector) to manage their waste," Hidayat said during the "Waste to Energy Talks: Reducing Waste, Powering the Future" event in Jakarta on Thursday.

According to the minister, nearly 10,000 factories in I...