Cideng operates water recycling system

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 04/07/2010 11:01 AM

JAKARTA: Cideng subdistrict in Central Jakarta has established a water recycling system, enabling it to reuse wastewater from 44 food street vendors around the area.

They use a technology called the Ecotechnology Park that separates poisonous and dangerous substances in waste so it no longer poses a threat to the environment.

Cideng subdistrict head Siti Nurbaiti said the liquid waste management system could produce 12 cubic meters of clean water and save on water costs.

“Now we have wastewater management we depend on recycled water to irrigate plants around the district,” she said Tuesday as quoted by beritajakarta.com. — JP

'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.

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)

Campaign says no to plastic, yes to alternatives as trash piles up

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Expatriates and locals concerned about the fast build-up of plastic waste in Bali launched a consumer-level waste reduction initiative this year.

The six-month-old campaign -- "Say No to Plastic" or "Bali Cantik Tanpa Plastic" -- has seen retailers in Ubud start to offer affordable alternatives to plastic shopping bags while educating their customers about the plastic problem.

Bali produces more than 5,000 tons of garbage per day, 30 percent of it solid and 70 percent organic.

Each year garbage output goes up 5 percent according to the Bali Environmental Impact Assessment Agency.

Alex Ryan, behind the waste reduction campaign, said people were frustrated with the way trash keeps piling up.

"What we are trying to do with this campaign is to reduce the amount of waste," she said.

"Plastic is a big problem because it takes so long to break down."

She said it takes between 15 and 1000 years for nature to break down a plastic bag -- which is made of petroleum materials -- and the process creates methane which contributes to global warming.

Some 20 stores in Ubud have joined the campaign. They display no-plastic posters and offer packing alternatives such as reusable cloth bags.

At Juice Ja, a cafe and art shop on Jl. Dewi Sartika in Ubud, the idea has caught on.

The cafe has been able to persuade customers to buy cloth bags to carry home their other purchases. "A lot of the customers are already aware about reducing plastic waste," said one of the staff.

He said the cloth bags with "Say No to Plastic" and "I bring my own bag!" logos were popular even though they cost Rp 20,000 each.

Ryan said her group of eight volunteers had done outreach activities in eleven banjar (traditional neighborhood organizations)in Ubud.

"And the response is very positive."

In September last year, the Bali provincial government launched a similar campaign. Sixteen major supermarkets joined the campaign, with Tiara Dewata becoming the first in Bali to provide shoppers an alternative to plastic.

Supermarkets in countries like Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Spain and Germany regularly charge customers for carry bags, instead of giving them away.

The resort island faces major waste management problems, with rivers and mangroves forests becoming unofficial garbage dumps.

Garbage piles up on river banks and chemicals leach into streams. The Suwung Dam area near Sanur and the mangrove forests on the line between Denpasar mayoralty and Badung regency are strewn with garbage, mostly plastics.

Nearby, the city landfill is overflowing with garbage from Denpasar and Badung.

The Bali provincial government is currently building a Rp 10 billion (US$1.10 million) waste management center in Bangklet village, Bangli regency. The five hectare-compound with a capacity of 1,000 cubic meters per day will function as an organic waste recycling center.