Waste Management Emergency in Indonesia
The full capacity of landfills in a number of areas is a sign that waste management in Indonesia is at a critical point.
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Waste disposal activities at the Piyungan Landfill in Sitimulyo Village, Piyungan, Bantul, Yogyakarta Special Region, on Tuesday (28/2/2023) have caused complaints from residents in the area due to the overflow of leachate waste into residential and agricultural areas. The leachate treatment at the Piyungan Landfill utilizes decomposing bacteria and is currently not able to keep up with the volume of waste being dumped there.
The full capacity of waste disposal sites in a number of areas is a sign that waste management in Indonesia is at a critical point. This is exacerbated by the increasing amount of waste generated without optimal management, causing a number of environmental, hygiene and health problems.
One example of this case occurred in TPA Piyungan Yogyakarta. The full pile of garbage that exceeds the capacity of its data storage makes the TPA, which has been operating since 1996, temporarily closed. The Provincial Government of the Special Region of Yogyakarta plans to close the Piyungan TPA service for 45 days, from 23 July 2023 to 5 September 2023.
The local government has projected that the Piyungan waste storage area will be full. It is estimated that the TPA will only last until the end of 2022. In fact, the Yogyakarta Environment and Forestry Service stated that TPA Piyungan had exceeded its capacity since 2012. waste from three regions, namely Yogyakarta City, Sleman Regency, and Bantul Regency. At least in a day around 630 tons of waste enter the 12.5 hectare landfill site.
Cases of overcapacity such as the Piyungan TPA also occur in other areas. In West Java, a similar condition occurs at the Sarimukti TPA, West Bandung Regency. The 43.6 hectare landfill is designed to only accommodate a waste capacity of up to 1.9 million cubic meters. However, the disposal area has actually accommodated 15.4 million cubic meters of waste to date or is very far from the original capacity design.
Read also: TPA Piyungan Limited Open, 100 Tonnes Garbage Container Per Day from the City of Yogyakarta
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Residents crossing near a pile of overflowing garbage on the side of the road in Kotabaru Village, Gondokusuman District, Yogyakarta City on Monday (24/7/2023) afternoon. The garbage pile-up is a result of the closure of Piyungan landfill.
The condition of the TPAs at the two locations is only a small example of the emergency situation in waste management in Indonesia. This is because, according to data from the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, in 2021 there will be ten provinces whose landfill status has exceeded their capacity. These areas are the provinces of Bengkulu, Riau Islands, West Java, DIY and Banten. In addition, also the Provinces of Bali, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, West Sulawesi and Maluku. The 10 areas have an average overcapacity of about 62.9 million cubic meters of waste that enters the landfill per year. In fact, the waste storage capacity per area is only 37.1 million cubic meters per year on average.
Garbage generation
One of the causes of the overflow of garbage in the landfill is due to the increasing amount of waste that continues to increase and is difficult to contain. This is indicated by the data on waste production recorded by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for the period 2019-2022. In 2019, waste production reached 29.3 million tons with an average daily production of 80,210 tons. In 2022, the amount of waste production jumped to 33.9 million tons per year with an average daily waste production of 92,960 tons.
The increase in waste volume comes from various sources of waste production. According to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry's data in 2022, the largest composition of waste comes from households, reaching 35.42 percent. Next is waste disposal from markets (31.12 percent), businesses (15.61 percent), public facilities (4.9 percent), and others (12.91 percent).
The proportion of household waste contributions indicates that the amount of waste generated is highly influenced by household consumption or the number of inhabitants in an area. In cities, there tends to be more waste generated due to the high population and daily consumption levels. Therefore, the volume of waste produced is likely to continue increasing with the growing population in urban areas.
This phenomenon has the potential to trigger environmental problems, especially when the waste cannot be recycled into something that can be used (reuse) or something that can be returned to nature (recycle ). As a result, waste or garbage that ends up in the TPA will continue to accumulate so that the TPA in question becomes full and exceeds its capacity at some point.
Also read: TPA Piyungan Closes, Local Government of DIY Prepares Temporary Waste Storage Land
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Officers stand guard in front of the temporary waste storage facility in the Gondokusuman sub-district area of Yogyakarta City, which is closed and not accepting garbage disposal, on Monday (24/7/2023).
In addition to increasing waste production, the growing waste stacks in the landfill are also triggered by the suboptimal waste management. Ideally, waste and waste should not be disposed of directly, but also need to be sorted and further processed so that the value of the waste continues. Thus, the environmental burden caused by waste can be further reduced.
According to Law Number 18 of 2008 on Waste Management, reduction and management of waste, especially household waste, is necessary. The reduction of waste refers to limiting the amount of waste generated, recycling, and reusing waste. The management of waste consists of sorting and separating waste according to type, amount, and nature, collecting and transferring waste to waste storage or processing facilities, transporting waste, processing waste, and disposing of waste in the form of returning waste to the environment safely.
Unfortunately, so far, the proper management of waste in both waste reduction and handling activities has not been maximized. Based on data from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in 2022, the total amount of waste reduction only covers 16.9 million tons or 49.8 percent of total waste generation. Meanwhile, the total waste handling in the same year has a smaller achievement, which is only 4.9 million tons or around 14.5 percent.
Waste management
The issue of waste in Indonesia poses a serious challenge in the future, given the limited number of landfills and their capacity. Moreover, by 2030, the government aims to stop the construction of landfills as a means of reducing carbon emissions from waste sources. Even if they are to be constructed, the provision of landfills will be constrained by very limited land availability.
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Garbage piles up on the side of the road in the Kotabaru area of Yogyakarta on Monday (24/7/2023). The city of Yogyakarta and the surrounding areas are facing waste management issues due to the temporary closure of the Piyungan landfill until September 5, 2023.
Therefore, it is necessary to optimize waste management involving various parties. This requires cooperation from the community, government, and also the private sector. The community needs to be directed to optimize the reduction, sorting, and processing of waste. This effort has been realized in the form of a waste bank which has been widely implemented in RT/RW neighborhoods, villages, or urban areas. However, this activity is still limited to processing certain types of waste such as plastic or paper. Other types of waste cannot be accommodated yet due to the lack of further management facilities.
The private sector can help by providing products with eco-friendly packaging. This is needed so that the waste produced can be easily processed and not used for other purposes.
To support all of this, it's a good idea for the government to provide facilities and technology that can be used by the community to process waste in the residential area. So, encouraging community awareness participation to process their waste independently around residential areas. In addition, the government also continues to make every effort to encourage the success of the waste utilization program for waste-to-energy power plants (PLTSa), waste to energy, and waste recycling to make it more efficient. Thus, the government's plan to abolish TPA construction in 2030 can be realized. (COMPASS R&D)
