The need to reformwaste management, handling starts at the source

Jakarta (ANTARA) -

The fire at the Jatiwaringin landfill in Tangerang District, Banten, was brought under control 10 days after breaking out in late June. Approximately 15 hectares of the 33-hectare landfill were burned, and the smoke caused 154 residents to suffer acute respiratory infections (ARI).The fire was caused by the accumulation of methane gas from organic waste piled up for years without processing, as previously occurred at the Sarimukti Landfill in West Bandung and the Rawa Kucing Landfill in Tangerang.

One day after the fire at the Jatiwaringin Landfill, the Ministry of Environment issued a circular urging preparedness for potential landfill fires during the dry season.

Ministry data indicates that the problem extends far beyond the single incident in Tangerang. Of the 485 landfills operating in Indonesia, 369 sites (76 percent) still use open dumping without treatment.

In fact, Law Number 18 of 2008 on Waste Management required all landfills to phase out the practice within five years. The root of the problem lies not solely in technology, but in the status of waste management within the public service system.

To date, regional waste management obligations remain a non-basic service, not bound by Minimum Service Standards (SPM), resulting in a much smaller budget in the regional budget (APBD) than SPM-based basic services such as education and health.

Consequently, local governments face difficulties in adopting environmentally friendly waste management systems, including controlled and sanitary landfills. At the same time, waste management is often one of the first sectors affected when regional budget transfers are reduced.

Attempts to propose a change in this status to the Ministry of Home Affairs have not yielded results since the budgetary consequences are deemed too large to implement nationally.

Budgetary issues are not limited to landfills that still rely on open dumping. The Sarimukti Landfill, which has implemented a controlled landfill, also faces this problem. The West Java Provincial Environmental Agency estimates that the landfill will be full by October 2026, earlier than initially estimated.

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In addition to the volume of waste exceeding assumptions, budget constraints are burdening management. A shortage of heavy equipment is hampering waste compaction, while reactivating the old zone requires approximately Rp24 billion (US$1,3 million) in funding, which has yet to be secured.

Beyond budgeting, the problem also stretches to policy continuity. The Waste to Energy (PSEL) Project in Makassar is a case in point.

Construction of this National Strategic Project (PSN), for which the agreement was signed in 2022, has yet to begin, impacted by changes in regional leadership and debates over the legal framework.

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa even intervened to resolve the issue. He instructed that the project be completed without undergoing a new tender process and that the central government cover the waste processing costs, or tipping fees.

Hundreds of other landfills still store methane gas for years, posing a risk of disaster during the dry season. Therefore, President Prabowo Subianto has mandated waste management as a national priority program.

Source-based waste management
The solution does not lie solely in building new landfills or expanding existing ones. As long as waste continues to be collected from households, transported, and dumped at final disposal sites, even the largest landfills will eventually reach capacity.

Therefore, policy direction must shift from a collect-transport-dispose pattern to upstream waste management, by sorting and processing waste as close to the source as possible, leaving only residual waste that cannot be processed for final disposal in landfills.

This model is demonstrated by the waste management system in Banyumas, reviewed by the president at the end of April.

Waste is being sorted and processed through local processing facilities. Organic waste is used as compost or used for maggot cultivation, while inorganic waste is recycled, and some of the residue is converted into alternative fuels. This approach significantly reduces the volume of waste sent to the landfill.

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The core of this model is the TPST (waste processing plant), which is decentralized and operated at the sub-district and village levels by Community Self-Help Groups (KSM). At the Kedungrandu TPST, for example, this facility serves more than 3,100 customers with a processing capacity of 15 tons per day.

The key to its efficiency is an automatic waste-sorting machine known as a “gibrik” machine. This locally developed innovation replaces manual sorting by separating organic and inorganic waste at high capacity through a more hygienic process.

The model worth replicating from Banyumas is its mechanism, not the scale of its facilities. Waste management should be decentralized, designed according to regional needs, and implemented through partnerships among governments, communities, and businesses.

The less waste entering landfills, the less methane gas buildup that can trigger fires.

However, system change requires certainty in long-term governance and policies. Waste management also requires investment and infrastructure, making stable policies and reliable funding essential.

The government must ensure that waste management is no longer dependent on regional budget surpluses and that related policies remain consistent despite changes in regional leadership. As a national priority, waste management requires fundamental reform, starting with improvements in source-based waste management.