Drowning in Garbage, Jakarta Could Look to Taipei for a Clean Example

Jakarta Globe, Heru Andriyanto, June 23, 2010

A garbage collector smoking a cigarette while working at the Bantar Gebang landfill, Bekasi. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

Taipei. Disposing of garbage hardly sounds like a great time to socialize with friends and neighbors, but a novel approach to waste management in the bustling Taiwanese capital, Taipei, is proving otherwise.

The Taipei metropolitan area, home to 6.7 million people, enforces a “No waste drop” policy that bans residents from littering and encourages them to bring out their garbage to dump trucks.

The mandatory trash policy got off to a slow start, but now most residents, from company executives to market traders to housewives and their Indonesian maids, can be seen out on the curb at night, chatting while waiting for the trucks to come by.

“After coming home from work and having dinner, I get to bring the trash out,” said Taipei native Tommy Lee, who currently works in Jakarta. “I really enjoy the precious few minutes of talking with my neighbors.

“I notice that migrant workers from the Philippines and Indonesia also use the occasion to meet with their friends,” he adds. “Like me, they look a little bit sad when the 9 p.m. truck is gone and the conversations have to end.”

Just a decade ago, Taipei struggled with the problem of littering. In July 2000, the city authorities introduced the “pay as you throw” policy in which residents were charged based on the amount of waste for collection.

They are now required to use only specially designated garbage bags.

Initially, most residents refused to buy these bags, instead using the free plastic bags they accumulated from shopping trips.

Police officers were then assigned to each dump truck to ensure they picked up only the designated trash bags, and residents who did not comply were fined on the spot.

Another problem was that most residents would just leave their garbage bags out on the curb or at pick-up points before leaving for work in the morning.

When the garbage trucks came by at night, there were heaps of reeking trash piled up along the streets.

That led authorities to implement a policy that no trash was allowed to touch the ground.

Residents were thus obliged to personally hand over their trash bags to the truck operators or dispose of their recyclable items in special bins provided by the city.

Sorting out recyclables from regular trash also saves residents money because the volume of the waste collected by the trucks goes down accordingly.

Meanwhile, bulky items such as furniture or tires are collected by different trucks on an appointment basis.

The Taipei authorities continue to tweak the program. Now, kitchen waste is to be collected separately to be used as pig feed or compost.

As for the rest of the garbage, it heads to the massive Beitou incinerator. The facility, sprawled over 10.6 hectares, can process 1,800 tons of waste a day. And it’s hardly a dump.

It has a swimming pool, children’s playground, employees’ dormitory and administration offices.

The main building, which houses the incinerator, is arguable the only one of its kind to boast a revolving restaurant and space observatory near the top of its 150-meter-high stack.

Around 95 percent of the garbage collected from Taipei residents is incinerated, while the rest ends up in a landfill.

Even here, little goes to waste. The incinerator burns the garbage at 1,050 degrees Celsius, and the bottom ash is processed to make paving blocks or bricks.

The results of this decade-long waste-management revolution are evident across the city, which is almost spotlessly free from litter, even in the busy public markets.

The city takes its garbage very seriously. For instance, the authorities have imposed restrictions on plastic shopping bags at supermarkets and other retail outlets, in a bid to limit the amount of non-recyclable waste.

By contrast, Jakarta, home to 13 million people by day, is still struggling to find enough space to dispose of the 6,500 tons of garbage produced each day.

Eko Bharuna, the head of the city’s waste-disposal office, says the authorities may be forced to build a new landfill in neighboring Tangerang to accommodate the ever-increasing waste output that can no longer be handled by the Bantar Gebang landfill in Bekasi.

The city also plans to set up three other landfills in the North Jakarta neighborhoods of Cakung, Sunter and Marunda as part of its 20-year waste-management plan.

However, this ostensibly long-term vision will only provide a short-term solution unless the problem of littering is properly addressed and legislation enacted to fix it.

Setting up new dumps will also invariably incite protests from local residents.

In November 2004, protests in the Bogor area over the planned creation of a landfill there turned violent, and ended with the police shooting and wounding five villagers.

Negotiations for the Tangerang facility began early last year, but the authorities there have stopped short of approving the plan because of protests from residents.

Taipei’s success story suggests it will take more than just throwing money at the problem to fix it.

Effective waste management calls for innovative and far-reaching ideas, public participation, changes in personal habits to stop littering, strong political commitment from both the municipal authorities and the City Council and even coercive legislation.

Jakarta may have the money, but is woefully lacking in everything else.

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President: Do not throw garbage into rivers

Antara News, Monday, June 7, 2010 16:13 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday called on the people not to litter rivers with garbage because it could destroy mangrove forests along the coast lines.

"Again, I ask the people not to throw garbage arbitrarily into rivers because it will destroy our mangrove forests at the sea shores," President Yudhoyono said when he inspected a mangrove forest area in the Muara Angke natural tourist park in North Jakarta.

On the occasion the president said environmental pollution would cause floods , various kinds of disease which would in the long run compel the government to spend a lot of funds on people`s health programs.

The head of state said it was better at the earlier stage to use the funds to save the environment, including mangrove forests, in an effort to save the people from the threat of natural disasters in the future.

"Some parts of the rivers are clean enough but most of them are still littered with garbage," the president said.

During his visit to the Muara Angke park, the President was accompanied by Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan, Youth and Sports Minister Andi Mallarangeng, Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta, Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam and Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo.

The Angke Kapuk natural tourist park is a 99.82-hectare natural conservation area covered by mangrove forests.

The area has been declared a tourist forest area for mangrove reforestation and rehabilitation and natural tourist activities.

Up to the end of April 2006, some 40 ha of the area had been rehabilitated and reforested with mangrove trees.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said on the occasion that his office has been cooperating with the Jakarta City Administration for five years to plant at least 9 million mangrove trees in the area.

"We have planted mangrove trees several times here, at Teluk Angke, at Ancol resort, and even at other locations in an effort to make Jakarta green," the forestry minister said.

According to him, mangrove-tree-planting activity should be intensified because environmental damage along the coast of Jakarta Bay had reached an alarming level.

Bali to turn garbage into fertilizer

Antara News, Saturday, April 24, 2010 15:41 WIB

Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - Bali provincial administration is exploring ways to turn garbage into non-organic fertilizer in a bid to promote environmental cleanliness on the island of paradise.

"In the 2010 amended regional budget (APBD) the local government will allocate funds to build three garbage management factories," Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said at a meeting with various public elements here on Saturday.

The governor said the first phase of small scale garbage management factories would be built around the area of Besakih temple in Karangasem, Goa Lawah in Klungkung, and Kintamani Batur temple in Bangli.

The environmentally-friendly factories at the three locations are expected to manage and turn the garbage in those areas into non-organic fertilizer.

"We want to turn the garbage there to have economic value for the local people," the governor said in the company of his deputy Aan Puspayoga.

On the occasion, Governor Made Mangku Pastika said the garbage management into non-organic fertilizer was in line with the local government target to make Bali a green province.

"If such a pioneer project yields a good result, the number of small scale garbage management factory will be increased," the governor said.

Best City is still dirty and noisy

Ni Komang Erviani, The Jakarta Post, Ubud | Mon, 02/08/2010 10:51 AM | Bali

The once quiet village of Ubud was just named the Best City in Asia, defeating Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo, but a large number of visitors to the city still find it dirty and noisy.

Jan Hansesen, together with 10 friends from Denmark, was spending a four-day holiday in Ubud, around 40 kilometers north of Denpasar.

Before arriving in Ubud, the group were holidaying in Hong Kong and at the Nusa Dua resort complex in Badung regency, Bali.

“People from all over the world say Ubud is a nice place, so we wanted to visit and enjoy it,” Hansesen said, adding that the group loved staying in Ubud where people were kind and friendly. They also felt secure walking along Ubud’s narrow streets.

However, issues of sanitation and the environment made him deeply concerned.

“Garbage is scattered all over the place. Plastic and wastepaper is everywhere. If you want to have tourists, you must clean the place,”

he said. Hansesen was not alone. Many tourists shared similar feelings. Two Spanish friends, Gabriel Pla and Eduard Bascunan, had come all the way from Spain just to visit the famous Ubud village.

“We wanted to see the most important place in Bali. So I chose the royal temple and Ubud market,” said Gabriel who stayed at a hotel in Nusa Dua. After only a few hours in Ubud, they found the village too crowded and dirty. “I just arrived here and already feel like it’s very crowded,” the Spanish man said. However, the beauty and unique architecture of Ubud’s palaces and temples to some extent healed their bad feelings about the place.

“It’s a nice place. But I think you have to solve the traffic problem. If you were named the best city, you must make improvements here and there,” he said.

US-based travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller once named Ubud the best city in Asia based on readers’ choices. Ubud obtained the highest score (Ubud gained 82.5 compared to Singapore with 79.6 and Shanghai with 75.9).

The nominations were based on a number of indicators including the city’s ambience, art and culture, lodgings, restaurants, local residents’ friendliness and shopping facilities.

Ubud is not a city by any Western terms. It is a small village growing into metropolitan tourist destinations with a sprawling number of restaurants, villas and hotels. The rapid growth of tourist facilities in Ubud was not in line with the progress in infrastructure development.

The roads are winding and narrow fit only for one-way traffic. Parking lots are not available, forcing cars and other vehicles to park along the narrow streets. Roads are filled with holes. Some government-sponsored projects have frequently disrupted the busy traffic. Most of the sidewalks are not designed or constructed properly and this makes it difficult for people to use them. But in particular, Ubud is dirty and noisy.

Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardhana, the patron of Ubud Royalty who is also the regent of Gianyar, responded positively. “We must immediately improve all public facilities in Ubud,” the regent said.

“Our first priority is to regulate traffic flows in Ubud and to provide adequate parking spaces,” he said.

The local authority would also regulate the construction of shopping facilities including advertisement boards as well as the construction of large-scale villas and hotels. “We feel we are living in a big, glittering shopping city, not in an art village,” Ardhana said.

There are around 250 small hotels and 10 luxury hotels and villas in Ubud. “Many are operating without the necessary permits,” he added.

A cleanliness program would be the hardest part of the changes for Ubud administration to tackle. “It is very difficult to build a clean culture. We will never give up, however, to create a clean and safe Ubud.”

Ciliwung riverbank residents to start ‘cash for trash’ project

The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Mon, 03/23/2009 11:37 AM

Squatters living along Ciliwung’s riverbank will get around Rp 900 (less than 10 US cents) once every three months for all the organic trash they collect.

“This will be the first time we will pay residents for their trash,” said NGO activist Lestari recently.

Since last year residents have been separating their organic and nonorganic trash voluntarily following encouragement from the Ciliwung Merdeka foundation.

Starting from the second week of April, residents in four neighborhood units (RT) in Bukit Duri subdistrict of South Jakarta and one in Kampung Pulo of East Jakarta will be paid Rp 10 for every kilogram of organic waste.

The garbage will be sent to collecting points that will be made available in five neighborhoods in the area, said Lestari, who is the foundation coordinator.

“We are targeting cooperation with two other RTs in Kampung Pulo by June this year,” she said.

The program is a joint venture between Ciliwung Merdeka, a nonprofit organization focusing on environmental and socio-cultural issues, and Ciliwung Hijau foundation, which was founded by residents in the five RTs.

“We want to motivate people in the area to boost their participation in the program,” Lestari said.

The collected waste will become additional raw material for compost production at the Compost House (Rumah Kompos), a compost-producing facility built by Ciliwung Merdeka foundation in 2008.

With additional material, Lestari said, Compost House will be able to mass produce the compost.

“Then we will be able to sell compost in large amounts to earn more money,” she said.

“The profit from the sales will be returned to residents in the form of a raise in the price of the trash to Rp 25 and then to Rp 50.”

Residents gave mixed reactions.

Housewives in RT 5 in Bukit Duri subdistrict were eager to take part in the program, according to Lestari.

“They said it was good that the trash had some value,” she said.

However, Karsinah from RT 7 in Bukit Duri regency was not too enthusiastic. “If they price the trash higher, say like at Rp 100 per kilogram, then I will [do it],” she said.

Lestari acknowledged that one of the challenges was to raise settlers’ awareness about the importance of trash management.

According to RT 7 Chairman Husen Gunawan, residents in his area have different opinions on the trash problem.

“There are those who are concerned about the trash problem, and those who aren’t, who say ‘I have paid Rp 3,000 (25 US cents) a month to the RT, if no one takes care of my trash, I’ll just throw it into the river’,” Husen said. (adh)

Palembang set to process waste to fix power crisis

Khairul Saleh, THE JAKARTA POST, PALEMBANG | Sat, 01/17/2009 5:24 PM  

The Palembang municipality in South Sumatra is planning to build a garbage-based power generating station in an effort to address waste management issues as well as the chronic power crisis in the city, a senior official said recently. 

The assistant to the City Secretary on planning and economic affairs, Apriadi S. Busri, said the project expected to address power shortages in Palembang. 

He said the station would be located at major landfill dumping sites in Kramasan, Kertapati, or Sukawinatan in Sukarami district, as the project required such huge volumes of garbage to operate. 

"Waste management will apply three methods reuse, reduce and recycle by sorting organic and nonorganic waste," he said. 

Besides processing garbage into fertilizer and methane gas to feed the power plant, the planned landfill areas have been set aside as future recreation areas, provided the recycling and sanitation processes operate smoothly. 

"A special drainage system will be built at the Kramasan landfill so that garbage can be deposited underground and processed into methane to then generate electricity," said Apriadi. 

The central government has provided Rp 5 billion (US$453,000) in funding for the project and also for a waste water processing plant. 

The municipality has appointed Japanese consortium PT Gikoko Kogyo Indonesia to produce methane at the Sukawinatan landfill. 

"We have signed a working contract with PT Gikoko. They are now waiting for their equipment to arrive so production can begin," said Apriadi. 

Palembang City Sanitation Agency head Zulfikri Simin said power generation from waste was feasible, provided there was a minimum supply of 500 tons of garbage per day, the equivalent of generating 2 megawatts of power. 

However, the municipality has been hampered by the limited number of garbage trucks in the area and the lack of overall transportation capacity. Sanitary workers can only transport between 3,000 and 5,000 cubic meters of garbage to the Sukawitan and Karya Jaya landfills per day. 

Zulfikri said PT Gikoko had been somewhat slow in beginning the process of converting waste to methane gas, considering operations were supposed to have started at the end of last year. 

The company is currently carrying out excavation work at landfills, collecting waste which will then be processed into methane.

'Clogged sewerage' to blame for flooding

Agnes Winarti and Triwik Kurniasari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 01/14/2009 8:19 AM 

It now takes less than an hour of heavy downpour to turn some of Jakarta's streets into impassable waterways and to bring traffic to a grinding halt.

An official at the Jakarta Public Works Agency said Tuesday the city's clogged sewerage and waterways were the major cause of traffic in the city on Tuesday when monsoon rain brought Jakarta's roads to a virtual standstill. 

“The garbage causes both micro- and macro-drainage systems in the city to only be able to perform at 50 to 70 percent of their capacities,”  head of the agency Budi Widiantoro said. 

He clarified that micro drains were 1- to 5-meter-diameter drainage pipes, and that macro drains were the city's major rivers. 

He said because of the excess of garbage in the city's sewerage, water tended to overflow onto the streets in heavy rain. He said even without the blockages, the city's sewerage was inadequate to absorb protracted heavy rainfall. 

It has proven incapable of absorbing the monsoon rain that has pounded the city over the last two days. 

“The [city] only has the capacity to absorb a maximum of 50 millimeters of rainfall, and today there was more than 50 millimeters of rain,” Budi told The Jakarta Post. 

In Pulo Gadung, East Jakarta, 87 millimeters of rain had fallen in the last two days. The average annual rainfall for the city is 300 millimeters. 

“It only rained for a moment but the intensity was very high,” he said.

 

 

 Water boom: Children watch as high tides break against an embankment in Muara Karang, North Jakarta, on Tuesday. Heavy rain and high tides inundated large parts of the city and brought traffic to a stand still. JP/J. Adiguna

 

On Tuesday morning, the heavy rainfall broke a 25-meter-long dike near Artha Gading mall and a 15-meter-long dike next to the Telkom building, both on Jl. Yos Sudarso in North Jakarta. 

“The broken dikes have been temporarily fixed using sand bags,” Budi said. 

According to the Coordination Board for Disaster Mitigation's disaster center at City Hall, Rawa Terate in Cakung, North Jakarta, was inundated with 1 meter of water Tuesday morning. 

Also, Kayu Putih area in East Jakarta was flooded in water as high as 50 centimeters, Cempaka Putih Timur in Central Jakarta took on 60 centimeters of water and Petogogan in South Jakarta was inundated with 20 centimeters. 

The heavy rain created puddles on more than 30 main streets in the city, causing lengthy traffic jams. 

As of the afternoon, water had inundated a number of main streets in the capital, according to the city police’s Traffic Management Center (TMC). 

Muara Baru in North Jakarta suffered the highest water levels with 40 centimeters, Second Brig. David of the TMC said. 

“Puddles could be found in some areas, mostly in North Jakarta, such as on Jl. Baru Ancol,  Jl. RE Martadinata, East Kelapa Gading and Teluk Gong,” David told the Post.

 

Residents protest waste plan

The Jakarta Post, Depok | Tue, 12/30/2008 11:02 AM 

 

The Depok administration's efforts to tackle the regency's waste problems by setting up waste-processing units (UPS) in residential areas have hit upon a stumbling block after hundreds of residents objected to the project.

 

Residents of Bukit Rivaria in Sawangan, Depok, protested against the construction of a UPS in their neighborhood, saying the administration had failed to consult with them on the matter, thus violating a 2008 law on waste management.

 

"We basically support the program, but there was no dialogue held with the residents before the administration set up the UPS in our neighborhood," Totok Towel, a resident, said recently.

 

The UPS is a 30-meter by 40-meter composting plant that also recycles inorganic waste from residential areas. Each unit can process 40 cubic meters of waste per day.

 

Totok said the UPS was located only 40 meters away from the nearest resident's home, adding the amount of waste produced daily by the residents was only 4 to 7 cubic meters.

 

"We are worried that trash from outside our area will be brought in to meet the UPS' processing capacity, thus piling up and ruining the beauty of our parks; moreover, it will jeopardize the health of residents," he said.

 

He added social problems could arise if trash pickers began flocking to the neighborhood to look for waste, disrupting the area's security in the process.

 

According to an environmental impact analysis, the project must be located at least a kilometer from residential areas, Totok added.

 

"The developers are also responsible for this mess, because they told us they were building a public facility here for the residents, but it's turned out to be a garbage dump," he said.

 

"We are not going anywhere if the UPS begins operating, because we can't afford to look for new homes," he said.

 

Fuad, head of the Rivaria residents community group (Iwari), said the residents had taken up the issue with the mayor's office and held three demonstrations to get the administration and developers to move the UPS elsewhere.

 

"If that doesn't work, we'll take this matter to court," he said.

 

He also said the developer had agreed to meet the residents' demands.

 

Around 1,000 families live in the area that could be affected by the problems caused by the UPS, he added.

 

Yusmanto, head of the Depok Sanitation and Environmental Agency's facility division, said the regency's landfill in Citayam was reaching overcapacity, thus making the construction of 60 UPS in residential areas crucial.

 

"The 10.6-hectare Citayam landfill must take around 4.2 million kilograms of trash per day, and it can't take that much longer. Therefore we need the UPS to lessen the burden on the landfill," he said.

 

He added the administration had met with community unit heads from Bukit Rivaria on Nov. 21 at the subdistrict office to discuss the UPS project.

 

"The reason we set up the UPS in residential areas is because the concept of the UPS is to recycle trash from households straight away," he said, adding it was for residents' own good.

 

Yusmanto also said residents had misidentified the UPS as a landfill, saying they should not worry about potential trash heaps because the UPS would not recycle more trash than the community could produce.

 

He added the waste would immediately be put in grinders and made into compost, which the residents could then use.

 

The administration will continue with the project, he went on, following the success of a pilot project. The first phase is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

 

"Our UPS pilot project in Sukatani village, Depok, has proven successful in reducing trash and helping the environment, without any residents complaining," Yusmanto said.

 

He added there were four stages in the UPS project under the regency's midterm plan. The first stage is the building of 20 UPS this year, 10 more next year, and another 30 within the next two years. The project will cost the regency an estimated Rp 17 billion (US$ 1.5 million).

Waste-Generated Power Plant Begins December

Friday, 14 November, 2008 | 21:19 WIB 

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The selection of investors bidding for a waste technology management project at Bantar Gebang disposal site will be determined next week after the Jakarta administration completes its paperwork next week. Selected investors will manage a waste-generated power plant worth of 900 billion for the next 15 years. The project is due to begin this December. 

According to Jakarta Sanitation Service chief Eko Bharuna, three investors have been selected out of a total 23 companies joining the tender. "We have the winner and the decosopm will be issued next week so they can start working," Eko said yesterday. 

The three companies still being processed are PT Godang Tua Jaya, Total Strategic Investment, and PT Patriot Bangkit Bekasi consortiums. The three consortiums are expected to obtain funding from foreign companies. 

Eko stressed that the winner of the tender will be assessed by their technological capabilities and their sources of funding. Additionally, transportation costs must be in line with the government's regulation, which is Rp 103.000 per ton of waste. "All three companies offer electrical management technology. Technically, they are different, but the output is the same," Eko said. 

In Bekasi, the local administration is cooperating with the Public Works Department to turn waste from Sumur Batu into organic fertilizers and coal briquettes. The total investment project is Rp 1,7 billion. 

The management of waste using bio-fermentation technology began yesterday. The production capacity is 25 tons of waste per day, dividing 15 tons of waste to be produced as organic waste and 10 tons as coal briquettes. 

Susmono, director-general for Environment Rehabilitation and Settlement Development said turning waste into useful materials is a way to reduce the amount of open dumping garbage in Sumur Batu, Bekasi. In a day, 1.200 tons of garbage are dumped on the site. "It is processed until the piles of garbage are gone," Susmono said. 

Bekasi mayor Mochtar Mohamad is optimistic that the bio-fermentation technology will be the biggest contributor of revenues in the region. "This will be a continuous project," he said. 

FERY FIRMANSYAH|HAMLUDDIN

'Producers responsible' for recycling plastic waste

Mariani Dewi, The Jakarta Post | Tue, 11/11/2008 10:52 AM 

 

Students have to walk along a one meter-wide path beside the confined beach of Sunda Strait to reach State Elementary School 3 in Marunda, North Jakarta.

WASTE HEROES: Two trash pickers swim in the Utan Panjang stream to collect plastic waste from the dirty, foul-smelling water. (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

In the water, there are not only fish swimming about, but also waste. A thick layer of plastic waste floats on the water -- from plastic shampoo and beverage bottles to empty noodle cups and snack wrappers.

 

Neither consumers nor producers are excited about cleaning up this kind of waste despite a recent law on waste management.

 

One of the articles in the new law states that producers must manage their own nondegradable packaging and/or products.

 

"There are only a few people who are concerned about the issue and work on waste management," Sri Bebasari, the Indonesia Solid Waste Association (INSWA) head, told The Jakarta Post recently.

 

"Unless something big happens, nobody pays attention to it."

 

Sri is urging the government to guide the operation of Article 15 by regulating on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and asking producers to set up waste management systems for the products they sell.

 

"It is for social fairness. If you produce garbage, you handle it. Do not ask others, like trash pickers, to take over your role.

 

"The process can start at the production stage, with companies using degradable materials, and continue to a system that collects and recycles the packaging," she said, using the Body Shop, where consumers return used packaging, as an example.

 

"Companies' environmental CSR (corporate social responsibility) activities now are only limited to separate and reuse. Some teach people how to make handicrafts from the waste, but this only solves a very small portion of the waste problem," she said.

 

"We are asking the private sector to get involved in the formulation of regulation to make it workable and not just a law that nobody cares about," she said.

 

She said, however, companies were not excited about the suggestion.

 

"We cannot do everything on our own," said Sinta Karniawati, Unilever Foundation general manager.

 

"We cannot collect waste from communal waste bins. It is hard. Even the government finds it hard to do, not to mention Unilever. We are in the consumer goods business, not the waste business.

 

"The trash is thrown out by people. We can clean the river, but it will be dirty again the next day. We cannot just concentrate on the waste because we also have other business activities to handle."

 

Currently the company is working on projects to increase awareness on how to separate waste, make handicrafts from plastic products and make compost from organic waste, Sinta said.

 

"Separating waste makes the job for trash pickers more efficient, and they can earn more. Our handicraft entrepreneurs buy the plastic packaging, which reduces waste," she said.

 

"If people stopped throwing rubbish into the water, there would be no waste there."

 

The foundation is relying on the expected multiplier effects of its community programs to achieve waste management objectives, rather than pumping in money, Sinta said.

 

"We cannot do something that it will jeopardize our main business. After all, the business funds these projects."

 

Waste management is also taking a back seat for another company, LG Electronics Indonesia, which is currently focussing its CSR on community development.

 

"We do not have much waste in our factory to clean up," said Woo Jung Wan, LG Electronics Indonesia finance manager.

 

"We have followed the government regulation about waste management. We sometimes offer trade-in programs where we purchase used LG products at a certain price."

 

The old electronic products are later dismantled based on the materials and sold to appropriate recycling companies, he said. The frequency of such programs is not scheduled, he added.

 

Sri said companies, especially multinational corporations, should play a bigger role in waste management, as is common practice in some countries.

 

"Tetrapak in Sweden already has their own recycling program. The one in Indonesia is still completing their study on collection method, but hopefully they will start soon," she said.

 

Around 70 to 80 percent of waste produced in Jakarta is inorganic, and the proportion is on the rise. The city produces some 6,000 tons of waste every day.

Bekasi Goes Green

Bahasa (Indonesian)

World Bank - Bekasi, March 3, 2008 – If there is any city in the island of Java that deserves to be recognized for its progressive, green-minded approach to sustainable development, that city would be Bekasi. A city of two million people just east of the capital, Bekasi has become the first city in Java Island to enter into an emission reduction purchase agreement that promises both environmental and social benefits.

The agreement entails the set-up of a gas-flaring facility at Bekasi’s Sumur Batu landfill, which generates up to seven hundred cubic meters of solid waste each year. The flaring technique essentially traps the methane gas resulting from solid waste, and goes a long way in reducing the number of climate pollutants deriving from Bekasi.

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is potentially 21 times more harmful than CO2, the main contributor to global warming. The flaring facility will be built by PT Gikoko Kogyo Indonesia, an engineering company that specializes in clean air technology, and is scheduled to be operational by the end of March.

The World Bank, acting as a trustee of the Netherlands Clean Development Mechanism, will help provide the social benefit component. Under the agreement for Bekasi city, the World Bank will purchase 250,000 tons of CO2-equivalent of Certified Emissions Reductions (CER) each year, for the next 15 years. In the global carbon market, one CER is equal to one ton of CO2 and is priced between US$5 to $10. From the deal signed between the World Bank and PT Gikoko, seventeen percent of the revenues generated would towards developing Bekasi.

“Seven percent of the revenues will support community development in Sumur Batu,” said Bekasi city secretary Tjandra Utama Effendi in a press conference after the signing ceremony. “Another 10 percent of the revenue will be added to the local budget.”

The Bekasi gas flaring project is only the second of its kind in Indonesia. Last year, the World Bank facilitated a similar agreement to a landfill in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. Another such project is currently being prepared in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Indonesia ignores sanitation, waterborne diseases loom: WB

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Despite the progress in economic development in Indonesia, sanitation has remained a major challenge facing the country, a World Bank executive says.

Almud Weitz, regional team leader of the Water and Sanitation Program for East Asia and the Pacific, told a media workshop here Monday the problem lay with the absence of investment in the sanitation sector.

Indonesia has the lowest percentage of urban sewage treatment among neighbors the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The survey found only 2 percent of urban sewage in Indonesia was treated.

"The three other countries have invested much in sanitation. They have been really into it," Weitz said.

She added that around 60 percent or about 80 million people in Indonesian had no access to sanitation, inflicting US$6.3 billion in economic losses annually on the country.

Failure to act immediately would only cause the next generation to bear the consequences, she said.

"Bad sanitation leads to waterborne diseases such as diarrhea that claims over 100,000 lives of children every year," she said.

Head of the subdivision for drainage and garbage at the National Development Planning Agency Oswar Mungkasa acknowledged Indonesia had not yet developed a sound sanitation system.

"Statistically 68 percent of Indonesian people have access to sanitation systems, but it does not meet the standard of proper sanitation," he said.

He said 70 percent of wells in Jakarta were polluted by E. coli bacteria as many septic tanks were located too close to wells.

Oswar said the government was not the only one responsible for the sanitation problem.

"People need to take responsibility. How you can possibly expect the government to provide sanitation to all Indonesians?"

He said the government was only responsible for providing access to public sanitation facilities such as public toilets and sewage treatment systems.

Low public awareness of sanitation is one of the problems, with people in many places still defecating in rivers, the main source of water for their daily needs.

"They brush teeth, wash and bathe in the same river where they defecate. They do not realize (they're attempting to live a) healthy lifestyle in an unhealthy environment," Oswar said.

Director of environmental health at the Health Ministry Wan Alkadri said the ministry was organizing a community empowerment program called Community-Led Total Sanitation that had been used since 2005 in six provinces: South Sumatra, East Java, West Java, West Nusa Tenggara, West Kalimantan and Jambi.

"The program is quite successful in changing people's habits. There are 160 villages in those provinces (where people) no longer defecate (in unsuitable places)," he said.

New sorting system for Bekasi dump

The Jakarta Post, Bekasi

The Bekasi municipal administration plans to install a garbage sorting mechanism at the Sumur Batu dump, which is expected to reduce garbage by at least 25 tons per day.

The project, to be completed in conjunction with the Public Works Ministry, is scheduled to start by the end of February, said Abdul Malik, the head of the waste and sanitation division at the Bekasi Sanitation, Parks and Cemetery Agency, on Tuesday.

"We want people to make use of recyclable garbage. We expect to cut down on garbage by at least 25 tons per day through this project. If the project works, we will apply the same method at other dumps," Abdul told The Jakarta Post.

The machine, which will use a conveyor belt, will be funded by the ministry at a cost of Rp 1.5 billion, said Susmono, the director of residential sanitation at the Public Works Ministry.

However, he added that the administration would be required to build a Rp 450 million storage area to house the machine.

The Bekasi administration manages several dumps, including the Bantargebang, Sumur Batu and Leuwigajah dumps. The 11-hectare Sumur Batu dump receives approximately 1,500 tons of garbage from Bekasi per day, while the 108-hectare Bantargebang dump receives around 6,000 tons of garbage from Jakarta.

An open dumping system is used at the dumps, which causes various environmental and health problems.

The dumps are havens for scavengers who are able to make a living sorting through garbage. However, no safety regulations are in place to protect the scavengers. In September 2006, three scavengers died at the Bantargebang dump site after a mountain of trash collapsed on them.

Susmono said the administration decided to develop a garbage sorting system after the accident.

He said his office initially offered the system to the Jakarta administration for the Bantargebang dump site. However, Jakarta turned down the proposal as it did not want to spend money on storage facilities, Susmono said.

"The main aim of the project is to humanize scavengers. They should have a safe and healthy place to work in. We will recruit 40 scavengers for the pilot project," he said.

Bagong Suyoto from the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) said he supported the project but called for better garbage processing systems to be introduced.

"After scavengers collect the non-organic garbage, the organic garbage could be turned into fertilizer and the rest could be disposed of properly," he said.

Abdul said the project was expected to reduce operational costs and extend the life of the dump. He said it would also give garbage an economical value.

"The Bekasi administration spends Rp 8 billion per year managing garbage, with Rp 3.5 billion spent on the Sumur Batu dump alone," he added.

Abdul said the administration planned to familiarize the public with the project.

He said the administration would also involve neighborhood unit heads and other prominent figures in efforts to secure the area. (tif)