Waste Management in Indonesia

[jstar]

In Jakarta sorting waste becomes mandatory. Finally.

The RW/RT’s organize instruction meetings and most kompleks will get their own specific bins in common areas.

 

[Wisnu]

Been doing. All our organic waste are converted into compost and leachate for our garden.
Non organic waste is collected once a month by waste collectors.

 

[harryopal1]

Been doing. All our organic waste are converted into compost and leachate for our garden.
Non organic waste is collected once a month by waste collectors.

Commendably responsible. But one can't help but wonder how the loal waste collectors deal with the waste. In Australia there have been many instances where councils have provided bins for recyclable waste, organic waste and general waste only for it to be found that it all gets dropped at one big waste dump. We have a long way to go before we are on top of waste problems with plastics and chemicals finishing up polluting the seas, atmosphere and general environment rather faster than some of the ingenious schemes to control pollution. Singapore seems to have managed pretty well but I guess with a small island state and small population it is easier to control.

 

[jstar]

Singapore seems to have managed pretty well but I guess with a small island state and small population it is easier to control.

Their fine structure really helps. If you need to pay SG$ 1.000-2.000 and even much more if you start burning trash, you will think twice. Expensive garbage disposal.

 

[Wisnu]

Commendably responsible. But one can't help but wonder how the loal waste collectors deal with the waste. In Australia there have been many instances where councils have provided bins for recyclable waste, organic waste and general waste only for it to be found that it all gets dropped at one big waste dump. We have a long way to go before we are on top of waste problems with plastics and chemicals finishing up polluting the seas, atmosphere and general environment rather faster than some of the ingenious schemes to control pollution. Singapore seems to have managed pretty well but I guess with a small island state and small population it is easier to control.

I believe they just dump it at facility nearby. No waste processing facility available in my area. no other choices. incenerators are now officially banned but all people in my area simply burn their own garbages.
I'll do what I can do.

 

[Bob]

Their fine structure really helps. If you need to pay SG$ 1.000-2.000 and even much more if you start burning trash, you will think twice. Expensive garbage disposal.

That, and that nobody really has a reason to burn trash. Apartments have trash chutes and houses get regular trash collection.

 

[Balifrog]

Danantara breaks ground on Bali waste-to-energy plant

Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund, Danantara Indonesia, has broken ground on a Rp3 trillion waste-to-energy (PSEL) plant in Bali on Wednesday, marking the ...

en.antaranews.com

Seems things are moving forwards....

 

[harryopal1]

That is good news but the capacity of the plant will still have 300,000 tons untreated,.

 

[pantaiema]

Danantara breaks ground on Bali waste-to-energy plant

Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund, Danantara Indonesia, has broken ground on a Rp3 trillion waste-to-energy (PSEL) plant in Bali on Wednesday, marking the ...

en.antaranews.com

Seems things are moving forwards....

Hopefully. it will work this time, not like this 12 newly bought incinerators in Bali Post #142

Waste Management in Indonesia

Those who argue that locals simply need more education because they’re supposedly too naive to grasp the environmental consequences of dumping waste into rivers or along roads should take a moment to read this recent post on social media (see attached). If you’re lucky enough to have a landlord...

www.expatindo.org

The incinerators could not be used straight out of the box because their environmental and public health impacts were deemed unacceptable. Surprisingly noone was taken accountable for this purchase causing losses of the taxpayers money.

 

[ponyexpress]

I recently visited Lombok for a week and traveled through Java for about 3 weeks. The amount of waste that I saw is highly concerning. In Lombok some locals dig up a hole as deep as 3 metres to bury all the rubbish. It's fine if they dump all organic waste into the hole but unfortunately non degradable or compostable materials will go along as well.

The beaches too are littered with plastic waste even for some beaches like Mawun or Selong Belanak, who many think are the most pristine beaches in Lombok, have some plastic floating around.

I tend not to see this issue as purely behavioural problem as it leads us to believe that Indonesians naturally don't care about the environment. Poor infrastructure, lack of education and low resources might have been contributing to this waste problem. Yes, there are some bins provided by the local shops and supermarket but then a regular pick up by the council might be an issue. Even if there is a regular pick up, the next question will be where they put the rubbish away and what to do with them. Many places in Indonesia rely on landfill as a way of disposing waste.

There are some local initiatives here and there where they are trying to tackle waste issue but they need support from the government both at local and national level. One particular example is the use of maggot to decompose organic waste in Bogor and use the dehydrated maggot for animal stock feed. Sungai Watch is another local initiatives that seeks to clean out river. As much as frustrating to see the amount of rubbish, I can say that these little work give me a hope that one day this might spread out and hopefully the local government can provide support for them. I really wish that the MBG money should be spent on waste management but that seems highly unlikely.

 

[harryopal1]

All of these Indonesian waste management programs would get a boost if governments began taxing the petroleum companies on a scale relative to the amounts of plastic they produce. Not only do they enjoy massive profits on this production but the indications are that the next 5 years will see a huge increase in how much they produce. Unfortunately the lobbying power of these big polluters is such that they divert governments away from making them responsible and the focus is directed at you and I as consumers. It seems almost impossible to buy anything that is not covered in plastics and some of these so tough that it is difficult to access your purchases.

 

[Balifrog]

I really wish that the MBG money should be spent on waste management but that seems highly unlikely.

I dont know about US and Austrlia but in France you pay a anual waste collection tax together with local taxes.

"In France, local taxes primarily consist of property tax (taxe foncière), residence tax (taxe d'habitation—for secondary residences), and the household waste collection tax. They fund the budgets of municipalities, departments, and regions. Key taxes for individuals include: Property tax (paid by owners of built and unbuilt properties); Residence tax (abolished for primary residences, but still payable for secondary residences); and Household waste tax (linked to waste collection and often billed alongside property tax). What these taxes fund: Schools and middle schools (maintenance of school buildings); Road infrastructure (cleaning and repair of roads and sidewalks); and Public services (social welfare, culture, and green spaces)."

"In France, the average household waste collection tax (TEOM) amounts to approximately €144 per resident—a figure that varies significantly depending on municipal decisions and can be checked directly on impots.gouv.fr."

That's 3 million IDR, or 230 AUD.

Maybe here starting collecting taxes properly would be a good start...

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[centurion]

I dont know about US and Austrlia but in France you pay a anual waste collection tax together with local taxes.

"In France, local taxes primarily consist of property tax (taxe foncière), residence tax (taxe d'habitation—for secondary residences), and the household waste collection tax. They fund the budgets of municipalities, departments, and regions. Key taxes for individuals include: Property tax (paid by owners of built and unbuilt properties); Residence tax (abolished for primary residences, but still payable for secondary residences); and Household waste tax (linked to waste collection and often billed alongside property tax). What these taxes fund: Schools and middle schools (maintenance of school buildings); Road infrastructure (cleaning and repair of roads and sidewalks); and Public services (social welfare, culture, and green spaces)."

"In France, the average household waste collection tax (TEOM) amounts to approximately €144 per resident—a figure that varies significantly depending on municipal decisions and can be checked directly on impots.gouv.fr."

That's 3 million IDR, or 230 AUD.

Maybe here starting collecting taxes properly would be a good start...

---

You pay your RT/RW monthly fee, or apartment service charge, garbage collection is included in that.

 

[centurion]

All of these Indonesian waste management programs would get a boost if governments began taxing the petroleum companies on a scale relative to the amounts of plastic they produce. Not only do they enjoy massive profits on this production but the indications are that the next 5 years will see a huge increase in how much they produce. Unfortunately the lobbying power of these big polluters is such that they divert governments away from making them responsible and the focus is directed at you and I as consumers. It seems almost impossible to buy anything that is not covered in plastics and some of these so tough that it is difficult to access your purchases.

What we need now is for sure more expensive oil.

 

[ponyexpress]

I dont know about US and Austrlia but in France you pay a anual waste collection tax together with local taxes.

"In France, local taxes primarily consist of property tax (taxe foncière), residence tax (taxe d'habitation—for secondary residences), and the household waste collection tax. They fund the budgets of municipalities, departments, and regions. Key taxes for individuals include: Property tax (paid by owners of built and unbuilt properties); Residence tax (abolished for primary residences, but still payable for secondary residences); and Household waste tax (linked to waste collection and often billed alongside property tax). What these taxes fund: Schools and middle schools (maintenance of school buildings); Road infrastructure (cleaning and repair of roads and sidewalks); and Public services (social welfare, culture, and green spaces)."

"In France, the average household waste collection tax (TEOM) amounts to approximately €144 per resident—a figure that varies significantly depending on municipal decisions and can be checked directly on impots.gouv.fr."

That's 3 million IDR, or 230 AUD.

Maybe here starting collecting taxes properly would be a good start...

---

The local government in Australia charges property tax and renters do not need to pay. This tax is handled by the home owner. This tax is then used to fund infrastructure as well as waste collection.

I am not sure if taxing people is really the key here. I watched a clip from Sungai Watch where an old lady dumped some rubbish into the river where the volunteers cleaned it a few days before. She was being questioned why did she throw the rubbish back to the river, her reply was very telling. She didn't know where to dispose the rubbish if she puts it away in the rubbish bin, no one comes to collect the rubbish. In the past there was a guy came around to collect the rubbish but she needed to pay 20 thousand rupiah and that was too much money for her.

Rubbish and poverty go hand in hand. When people are poor, the first thing that comes to their mind is not about living sustainably but how to survive. If you want to tax people then increasing the income tax and cross subsidising those who can't afford to pay waste collection money. The wealth disparity in Indonesia is pretty obscene.

 

[pantaiema]

She was being questioned why did she throw the rubbish back to the river, her reply was very telling. She didn't know where to dispose the rubbish if she puts it away in the rubbish bin, no one comes to collect the rubbish. In the past there was a guy came around to collect the rubbish but she needed to pay 20 thousand rupiah and that was too much money for her.

Presumably Rp20k per month? is it recent ?? Since the closure of rubbish processing centre in Bali, the contractor is demanding much more. Based on people reporting their personal experience, the general collection fee varies between Rp150k - Rp500k pm. In some area in Bali they even ask as much as Rp3.5m. Rp150k pm is still a lot of money for many households in Indonesia.

For the contractor itself, they might at the end resort to covertly dumb it at the river if they can not effort to bribe the people at the gate working on the rubbish processing centre which were already closed for public.

If garbage collection is organised by banjar, the local authority, it could also be linked to charitable donations by introducing a minimum contribution, for example IDR 1 million.

Bali is the only province in Indonesia that has imposed a tourist levy of IDR 150,000 per visitor since 2024. The question is: where is this money actually going?

About a year ago the Balinese provincial government purchased waste incinerators using the national budget, not the revenue from the tourist levy he has been collecting since early 2024. However, the incinerators failed during testing and could not be put into operation due to environmental and public health concerns. They probably bought the cheap general incinerators, not the special Waste to Energy (WtE) incinerators and mark up the price. Despite this costly failure, no one has been held accountable for the purchase.

 

[Balifrog]

Presumably Rp20k per month? is it recent ?? Since the closure of rubbish processing centre in Bali, the contractor is demanding much more. Based on people reporting their personal experience, the general collection fee varies between Rp150k - Rp500k pm. In some area in Bali they even ask as much as Rp3.5m. Rp150k pm is still a lot of money for many households in Indonesia.

That is the problem with private entitied doing it. They need to consider investment, running cost, various payments and profit.
IMO this has to be organised at local government level.

In France, in touristic areas campings and hotel prices will include a "community fee" to cover for the expenses tourists causes (increased garbage collection, public areas cleaning etc..) as they don't pay local taxes.
Same could be done in Bali.
The infamous 150k tourist tax is not collectible and few tourist really pay it.

 

[Balifrog]

Bali great dreams since 8 years

• North Bali airport
• Southern Bali subway
• Southern Bali light rail system

• 4 lane expressway to Gilimanuk
• Highway on the sea

And I probably forgot several others...

 

[harryopal1]

Bali great dreams since 8 years

• North Bali airport
• Southern Bali subway
• Southern Bali light rail system

View attachment 5726

• 4 lane expressway to Gilimanuk
• Highway on the sea

View attachment 5727

And I probably forgot several others...

"And I probably forgot several others..." The ring road in the south. Recently the traffic in Jalan Uluwatu and the intersection near McDonalds at the Ngurah Rai Bypass has reached a stage where it is now like Canggu. Yesterday I wanted to go for a swim at Jimbaran. Left home to head towards the interersection of Jalan Uluwatu - Jalan Raya Kampus Unud. Hadn't gotten far and traffic jam backed up for kilometres. Did a U turn to head for the alternative via the McDonalds intersection. Again traffic backed up for a kilometre. Did a U turn and went home. This trip used to take 9 minutes or 12 if busy. Once the construction starts for the Ring road and with these other projects it will result in absolute chaos.

 

[Balifrog]

The wealth disparity in Indonesia is pretty obscene.

Agreed, but it is same in plenty countries, even in the West.

In the US the middle class "American dream" is gone. And only billionaires have a chance to become President.
In France, Germany, U.K. the middle class is suffering. Homeless population is rising...

In Indonesia the main problem is education.