Proceedings of International Symposium on EcoTopia Science 2007, ISETS07 (2007)

Integrated Solid Waste Management in Indonesia

Kardono, Ph.D.1
1. Center of Environmental Technology, Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology
(BPPT), BPPT Building II, 19th floor, Jl. MH Thamrin No. 8, Jakarta 10340, Indonesia
Abstract: Integrated solid waste management (ISWM) is the best solution for combating the municipal
solid waste (MSW) or refuse problems. Technically, ISWM is combination of technologies, such as sorting, composting, recycling, incinerating and land-filling, that are applied and adapted into local situation
and condition. Indonesia experiences noted that if ISWM is applied, it can reduce by 18 per cent by
weight of MSW, in turn it could reduce the transportation cost and prolong the life of final disposal site.
For example, one hundred tons of MSW can be converted to 20 tons of compost, 14 tons of recycled material and 18 tons of residual material. This residue can be dumped into landfill or incinerated. In the future, ISWM strategy in Indonesia will be based on community participation. So the treatment of waste is
located in household (community based solid waste management) or near area of the source (decentralized system). Community based solid waste management (CBSWM) becomes important in Indonesia because it is low in cost and high participation of the people. Besides, the technology applied is simple,
relatively cheap and easy to operate. The types of technologies use are ranging from several types of
composting, paper recycling, and waste based-handy craft. For 1000 households for example, they need
between 300 and 500 m2 of land for recycling plant. This facility can treat between 15 and 25 m3 of MSW
per day with 10 to 15 workers. Investment cost needed is between 300 and 500 million Indonesian
rupiahs (US$ 35,000 55,000). This system has been developed by the Center of Environmental Technology - BPPT and has been successfully replicated in several cities of Indonesia. The success story of
CBSWM in several areas in Indonesia will be reported in this paper.
Keywords: Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM), Community Based Solid Waste Management
(CBSWM), Municipal Solid Waste (MSW)
320,940 m3 per day). It is predicted to increase five times
by 2020.
The typical composition of the MSW is given in Table
1 and the distribution of Indonesia population and MSW
generation in some big cities is given in Table 2.

1. INTRODUCTION
The average production of MSW in Indonesian metropolitan and big cities was estimated between 2.48 and
3.27 liter per capita. The total MSW generated by 384
Indonesian cities was about 80,235 tons per day (or

Table 1. Composition of MSW in Indonesian Cities.

No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Type of Waste
Organic
Plastic
Paper
Textile
Rubber
Metal
Glass
Others

Semarang
61.95
13.39
12.36
1.55
0.5
1.8
1.72
6.83

Composition (%)
Surabaya
Jakarta
71.85
68.12
12.45
11.08
7.60
10.11
0.90
2.45
0.90
0.55
0.54
1.90
1.94
1.63
3.82
4.12

Corresponding author: Kardono, kardono@ceo.bppt.go.id

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Bandung
63.52
4.90
10.42
1.70
4.90
0.95
1.45
12.16

Proceedings of International Symposium on EcoTopia Science 2007, ISETS07 (2007)

Table 2. List of MSW generation in several cities of Indonesia.

No

City

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Bandung
Denpasar
Jakarta
Makassar
Medan
Palembang
Semarang
Surabaya
Balikpapan
Lampung
Banjarmasin
Bekasi
Bogor
Depok
Yogyakarta
Surakarta

Number of
Population
2,232,624
542,553
7,471,866
1,173,107
2,006,014
1,338,793
1,389,421
2,740,490
500,406
800,490
574,259
2,005,899
750,250
1,204,687
519,936
552,542

Population
Growth
Rate (%)
0.20
4.05
0.20
1.27
1.50
2.65
1.43
2.38
1.02
2.66
0.34
4.10
2.40
3.70
1.74
0.48

Waste
Generation
(l/capita/d)
3.95
0.73
3.55
3.02
2.71
6.50
2.52
3.17
2.26
1.25
1.65
2.39
2.83
0.64
3.02
1.83

Total Waste
Generation
(m3/d)
8,826
330
26,521
3,546
5,436
8,700
3,500
8,700
1,128
1,000
947
4,800
2,124
766
1,571
1,009

directly taken from each source to the final disposals, but

it is first brought to temporarily transfer stations. In the
second stage, the waste is transported by open trucks,
dumps trucks or compactor trucks. Meanwhile in the direct transportation system, the waste is picked up by using open truck, dump truck or compactor vehicles, and
then transported to the final disposal. The lay out of typical MSW management system is given in Fig. 1.

2. MSW MANAGEMENT IN INDONESIA

At source, the waste is stored in different types of containers and collected everyday until three times a week.
There are several varieties of collection vehicles used,
such as compactor vehicles, dump trucks, open trucks,
arm roll trucks, mini trucks, and handcarts. Handcarts and
mini trucks are usually employed in indirect waste transportation of the first stage. In this system, the waste is not
MANAGED BY SOCIETY

MANAGED BY LOCAL GOVERNMENT

1STCOLLECTION

WASTE POINT

Population
Density
(Person/Ha)
133
35
112
67
76
33
37
84
10
41
80
95
63
59
160
125

REMOVAL

TRANSPORT

FINAL DISPOSAL

DIRECT COLLECTION

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of solid waste management system in Indonesia.

Note: The waste commonly from households, markets, etc is transported to the first collection by handcart or directly by
open trucks or bigger vehicles. Then, with the handcart the waste goes to removal site (temporary collection point) until
transported to final disposal. By bigger vehicles, the waste is transported directly to final disposal.

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replacement of the old ones due to public restriction,

land availability and land price.
Waste Management Institution. The success of
waste management at local government is affected by
many factors, so that it needs particular institution to
handle the problems associated with implementation
of waste reduction and control.
Financial. So far, waste management is not yet the
priority of the government. It is represented by a very
low city budget allocation for the waste management.
Because of that the suitable treatment of the waste
from collection till final disposal cannot be carried
out properly based on environmental and technical
view points.

Direct haul of solid waste from collection point to

disposal site without any intermediate treatment is the
general practice done in Indonesia. Recently however,
some local governments are facing some problem in getting suitable land for waste disposal as land is getting
scarcity with its very high price. Therefore, the intermediate treatment facilities such as recycling and composting may become an interesting alternative treatment of
MSW in the future.
In 1989, waste recycling and composting program in
Indonesia was officially started and small scale composting plants have been built in several cities. In that year
the composting activities run well. Several years later,
almost all the composting plants did stop because no
more funding was provided and no demand for the compost product was available. In the time being, there is indication that organic farming is starting to grow, so that
the compost demand is predicted to increase.
In this situation, composting activities become attracting. For example in 2005, there were more than 45 composting plants with each having capacity of more than
one ton of compost per day. For waste disposal, open
dumping system is still used as MSW final disposal in
most cities. It is because the operational cost of this facility is cheap and technically easy to handle. Unfortunately,
this system potentially causes environmental problems
such as producing a huge and uncontrolled leachate that
can pollute the groundwater. It can also produce bad odor,
and breed flies and rodents. Some cases of environmental
problems and disasters due to the open dumping practices
of waste have occurred in large cities like Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya. Those are landfill sliding, firing, etc.
that have triggered public protest. Nowadays, MSW
treatment and its open dumping (disposal) create a big
problem faced by Indonesian cities.

4. NATIONAL POLICY ON MSW IN INDONESIA

The Draft of MSW Management Law has been proposed by the government via Ministry of Environment to
the Legislative Body. In that draft, source treatment specially reduce, reuse and recycle of MSW is mandated.
Besides, the MSW final disposal through sanitary landfill
must be prepared to replace the open dumping one in 5
(five) years to come starting from the signing of the Law.
By 2020 the target of MSW management is to
achieve 60 per cent of the use of sanitary disposal
and 20 per cent of waste reduction.
All the small cities should use a controlled landfill,
big/metropolitan cities should use a sanitary landfill,
and no open dumping allowed anymore.
Supporting activity of solid waste institution and regional cooperation must be developed.
The policy of MSW management in short run (2006
2010) is also created, those are:
Policy 1. Maximize the reduction of MSW at the sources

Increase the community knowledge and perception

on 3Rs (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle) and safety of
household hazardous waste;

Develop and apply incentive and disincentive programs of the 3Rs;

Support coordination with industrial and trading

sectors that produce and distribute their products that
have waste on them.
Policy 2. Encourage community participation and private
sector in MSW management

Increase the knowledge and awareness of waste

management starting from children in the school;

Increase the knowledge and awareness of waste

management especially for women/housewife;

Support community based solid waste management;

Develop conducive environment for private sectors

to produce their product and participate in their
waste handling and treatment.

3. SEVERAL PROBLEMS
Several problems regarding solid waste management
in Indonesia need to be understood and addressed.
High Waste Generation. It is estimated that solid
waste generation will increase around 2 4 per cent
per year. If there is no solution to be taken at the
source such as using 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle)
program and improve the waste management and
treatments at final disposal, the generated waste will
cause environmental problems and health, and finally
will affect the other areas, such as tourism, economy,
social as well as health.
Low Quality Waste Management. Generally, solid
waste management and services in every Indonesian
city is still bellow the standard (low waste service
area, lack of collection and transportation, illegal
dumping, waste burning, etc.). The government needs
to work with Non-Government Organization to educate people how the waste is managed, and implemented some examples of waste management practices in several areas of the country how the waste is
treated in environmentally-friendly manner, such as
composting plant and its utilization.
Limited Final Disposal Sites. Most of the existing final disposal sites in Indonesia, especially in big cities,
will be closed because they have been in full capacity.
It is, however, difficult to find a new landfill sites for

Policy 3. Increase waste service area and quality of waste

management
Optimize structure and infrastructure of waste treatment;
Increase waste service area step by step until reaching
the area as planned;
Increase the capacity of waste structure and infrastructure;
Rehabilitate open dumping landfill sites;

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Increase quality of final disposal sites toward sanitary

landfill or controlled landfill;
Develop final disposal management regionally;
Do research and development of applied technology
for waste treatment.
Policy 4. Develop institution and regulation
Increase the status and capacity of waste institution;
Separate the waste management services to become
two bodies: regulator and operator bodies;
Increase cooperation and coordination among all
stakeholders;
Increase the quality of human resource who work for
this activity;
Support collective management on regional waste
management system;
Develop new regulation as the basis of waste management practices;
Support the system and law enforcement done by authorities.
Policy 5. Develop sources of financing
Develop recovery financing guideline;
Facilitate development of the number of retributions;
Develop the same perception among decision makers
in waste management as well as its budgeting and financing;
Support recovery financing of waste management.
5. RECOMMENDATION
Integrated solid waste management (ISWM) is the best
solution for combating the waste problems. ISWM, technically is a combination of technology (such as sorting,
composting, recycling, incinerating and land-filling) that
applied and adapted depend on the local situation and
condition (see Fig. 2).
It is noted that if ISWM is done for handling the solid
waste it will reduce the waste up to 18 per cent. It can
also reduce the transportation cost and prolong the life of
final disposal site. For example, from 100 tons of fresh
waste it can be converted into 20 tons of compost, 14 tons
of recycled material and 18 tons of residual wastes. This
residue can be dumped in landfill or incinerated.
In the future, ISWM strategy in Indonesia will be
based on community participation. It is suggested that the
treatment of the waste is located in household itself
(community based solid waste management) or near area
of the source (decentralized system).
Community based solid waste management (CBSWM)
becomes important in Indonesia because it is low cost and
high public participation. Technology applied is simple,

low cost and easy to operate. The types of technology are

composting (use several types of compost reactor), paper
recycling, and waste based-handy craft. The target community is women or house wife. Usually, compost produced is utilized for fertilizing their herb plant and the
recycled material is collected and sold. The residual
waste is collected in temporary station before transported
to final disposal site. In this area, the environment of settlement is very clean and green. The success story of the
CBSWM in several areas in Jakarta and Surabaya have
been and will be replicated in other areas.
To replicate the CBSWM is not easy because it requires the change on waste perception and culture. This
system takes time to apply in all settlement areas of the
city. If CBSWM is not established yet, waste treatment
will be done in temporary station or other sites near the
source of waste with the small capacity.
For 1000 households for example it requires 300 to
500 m2 of land for recycling plant. This plant can handle
15 to 25 m3 waste per day with 10 to 15 workers. Investment cost needed is 300 to 500 million Indonesian
rupiahs (around US$ 30,000 - 50,000). This system has
been developed by Center of Environmental Technology,
BPPT and has been successfully replicated in several cities.
In this plant, wastes are manually sorted into organic
and inorganic wastes category. Organic waste is converted into compost using windrow composting technique.
This technique is very appropriate for tropical climate.
Warm and humid conditions speed aerobic biological
degradation. Composting process only needs six weeks to
produce high quality of matured compost free of pathogen and seeds. Compost produced is sold, but its market
is still unavailable yet.
On the other hand, the market of recycled material like
plastic, paper, glass, and metal is already established.
They are collected and sold to the buyers in certain interval of time. Unfortunately, the amount of this recycled
material at disposal plant is not so much because it is already collected by scavengers at the source of the waste
before the waste transported to the plant. If there is
enough amount of hard plastic, the shredding plastic machine might be needed in this plant. Plastic flakes that is
produced then washed, dried and packaged before being
sold.
The centralized system of MSW treatment is not established yet in Indonesia because of its high cost and complicated technology. However, metropolitan city, like Jakarta, will apply this system to combat 6500 tons municipal solid wastes a day. Some of wastes will be treated
in incinerator plant, biogas plant, and landfill.

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ALTERNATIVE I

AGRICULTURE

COMPOST

BAHAN
MAKANAN

COMPOSTING PLANT
ORGANIC WASTE
4,.080 TON/DAY (68%)

UNPROCESS
MATERIALS 1.080
TON/DAY (18 %)

SANITARY
LANDFILL

RESIDUE 216 TON/

DAY
(3,6 %)

URBAN AREA

MSW
6.000
TON/DAY (100 %)

RECYCLE
ALTERNATIVE II

SECONDARY
INPUT
840
TON/DAY

UNPROCESSED
MATERIAL 1.080
TON/DAY (18 %)

ENERGY

Fig. 2 . Concept of

INCINERATOR

Proposed Integrated MSW System in Indonesia, a case of Jakarta.

Note: The products of agriculture and other activities and so their wastes go to the urban area, and this waste is called
either municipal solid waste (MSW), city waste or refuse. If the proposed IMSW will be applied for a case of Jakarta
that has about 6000 t/d (100%) of MSW, around 4,080 t/d (68%) will go to composting plant and another 840 t/d (14%)
will go to recycling plant. The rest of the waste which is 1,080 t/d (18%) unprocessed material will either go to landfill
(Alternative I) or go to incinerator (Alternative II). The product of compost will go back to agricultural field and the recycled materials will go back to industries at urban area. The product of incineration, which is energy will go to the user
(usually urban area) and the residue of around 216 t/d (3,6%) will be disposed into the landfill. For the case of Jakarta
and other big cities like Bandung, Surabaya the choice of alternative II following composting and recycling might be
more appropriate due to limited land available for landfill. Other smaller cities might choose alternative I instead.

REFERENCES
1. R. Epstein, The Science of Composting, Technomic
Publishing Company, Inc., USA (1997).
2. S.M. Djamaludin and S. Wahyono, Pengomposan
Sampah: Skala Rumah Tangga (Waste composting:
Household Scale), Office of Environmental Ministry,
Bldg B, 4th Fl., Jakarta (2006).
3. S. Wahyono and T.B.L. Sony, Pedoman Umum Pembuatan Kompos (General Guidelines on Composting),
Office of Environmental Ministry of Indonesia, Bldg
B, 4th Fl., Jakarta (2006).
4. S. Wahyono, F.L. Sahwan and F. Schuchardt, Pembuatan Kompos dari Limbah Rumah Pemotongan

Hewan (Composting from Slaughter House Waste),

Center of Environmental Technology, BPPT, Jakarta,
Indonesia (2003).
5. Center of Environmental Technology, BPPT, Final
Report: Municipal Solid Waste Management Technology at Leuwigajah Landfill-Bandung, Jakarta, Indonesia (2005).
6. Center of Environmental Technology, BPPT, Final
Report: Municipal Solid Waste Management Technology at Bantargebang Landfill-Bekasi, Jakarta, Indonesia (2004).
7. Center of Environmental Technology, BPPT, Proposal:
Strategy on Problem Solving of Municipal Solid
Waste of Greater Bandung, Jakarta, Indonesia (2006).

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