<![CDATA[This study analyzes the gap between realization and targets for waste reduction and handling in Malang Regency against Regent Regulation No. 26/2019, and examines the readiness of waste-bank infrastructure together with the absence of a plastic-specific regulation in the region. A descriptive quantitative approach with an ex post facto design was used, drawing on official secondary data from the Malang Regency Environmental Agency (DLH), Statistics Indonesia (BPS) for Malang Regency, credible mass media, and prior academic studies, analyzed through time-series trend analysis, gap analysis against the Regent Regulation's tiered targets, proportion analysis of waste-bank activity, and content analysis of regulatory completeness. Waste-handling realization lagged behind the Regent Regulation's targets at every observation point, reaching 41.36% in 2023 against a 57.36% target (a gap of -16.00 points) and only 40.00% in 2025 against a 70.00% target (a gap of -30.00 points), with the gap widening rather than narrowing over time. Of 250 registered waste banks, only 125 units (50.0%) were actively operating, and Malang Regency had yet to enact any Regional Regulation or Regent Regulation specifically restricting single-use plastics, unlike the approach beginning to be taken by neighboring Malang City. The study concludes that waste policy implementation in Malang Regency faces structural challenges in the form of a widening target gap, low infrastructure activity, and a regulatory void on plastics, despite the regency's status as Indonesia's first national pilot site for a plastic-waste-elimination partnership with international stakeholders.]]>
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