IN FOCUS: With landfills almost full, Indonesia grapples with ‘ticking time bomb’ of waste crisis
Indonesia is counting on waste-to-energy plants to tackle its waste crisis, but experts say it’s no substitute for reducing trash at the source.
Waste pickers search through piles of rubbish at Bantargebang landfill in Bekasi, Indonesia. (Photo: CNA/Ridhwan Siregar)
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DENPASAR/JAKARTA: With its sandy beaches and lush paddy fields, Bali has long been sold as Indonesia’s picture-perfect island paradise.
But to locals, especially those living in southern Bali, their streets have been far from dreamy, with piles of trash filling up parts of the island in recent months.
Since Apr 1, residents in Bali have had to separate organic and inorganic waste. Organic waste has largely been barred from the island’s biggest landfill, Suwung, which serves the heavily populated and tourism-driven south.
Under the new regulation, residents are supposed to compost or send their waste to recycling centres.
Inorganic waste can be sent to a newly established small inorganic landfill in southern Bali.
Organic waste is biodegradable waste such as fruits and eggshells that originate from plants or animals. Inorganic waste is non-biodegradable waste originating from non-living, synthetic, or mineral-based materials, such as bottles and styrofoam.
The rule was meant to push households and businesses to sort and process waste at the source, rather than sending everything to a landfill already at breaking point.
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But many residents were still confused and struggling to do so when CNA spoke to them two weeks after the new rule was enforced.
“I am confused. But after I learned how to separate the waste, it is not even collected,” said domestic worker Kuswati in Jimbaran, southern Bali, who goes by one name.
Bali’s waste problem has had serious consequences. Last September, the island suffered deadly floods caused by waterways blocked by trash, among other factors, which claimed the lives of 17 people.
The island offers a glimpse of the waste crisis unfolding in Indonesia.
INDONESIA’S LANDFILLS HITTING CAPACITY
Indonesia generates 56.6 million tonnes of waste annually, its then-Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said last year.
The country has 550 landfills, The Jakarta Post reported in June 2025, and Hanif said they are projected to hit maximum capacity by 2030 unless significant measures are taken.
Under former President Joko Widodo, the target was for Indonesia to achieve 100 per cent waste management by the end of 2025, but current President Prabowo Subianto has extended it to 2029.
Waste management refers to waste that is properly sorted and collected, then converted into raw materials or energy sources, or recycled.
In February 2026, Hanif said Indonesia’s waste management rate had hit 24.95 per cent, up from 10 per cent in early 2025, Antara news agency reported. But that means three-quarters of waste is still unmanaged, often ending up in open dumps or rivers, or burned, polluting the environment, the Jakarta Globe noted.
Environmental expert Mahawan Karuniasa from the University of Indonesia said Indonesia’s waste problem is not mainly about litter or cleanliness but rather a structural crisis of governance, capacity, and urban growth.
“It’s clear that Indonesia has a waste problem,” Mahawan told CNA.
“The problem isn’t simply the high volume of waste generated, but rather the inability of the waste management system to keep pace with, among other things, the growth in consumption and urbanisation.”
Indonesia’s population is currently about 285 million, up from 258 million a decade ago.
Acknowledging the problem, President Prabowo declared waste management a national priority during a visit on Apr 28 to a waste processing facility in Banyumas, Central Java, saying Indonesia must bring waste under control within two to three years.
This month, the government is also targeting the groundbreaking of five waste-to-energy projects, namely in Denpasar, Bekasi, Bogor, Bandung and Yogyakarta, while pushing regions to end open dumping by this year.
Indonesia currently has two waste-to-energy plants – typically incinerators that generate electricity from the burning of waste – in Surabaya and Solo, according to a policy brief last year by researchers from University of Maryland in the United States alongside others from Indonesia and Denmark.
News reports in recent years have also cited the presence of some small incinerators in the country, such as one in Bogor.
However, experts CNA spoke to said these waste-to-energy projects are not enough to tackle the waste problem, and viable solutions must be implemented to suit each region, such as Bali, which faces overtourism, and Jakarta, with an overpopulation issue.
WHAT IS BALI’S WASTE PROBLEM?
In Bali, trash has usually been most visible at the end of the year, when monsoon currents bring waves of plastic and debris onto its beaches.
But the current problem is different.
In some neighbourhoods, confusion about the new regulation has led residents to burn or dump their waste onto sidewalks and into drains when they do not know what else to do.
Bali generated about 3,400 tonnes of waste per day in 2025 but only 29 per cent, or around 916 tonnes, was managed, according to Bali’s environment agency.
The pressure is not evenly spread across the island.
Environmental expert Shinta Enggar Maharani from Mahasaraswati University said the problem is worse in tourism-centred southern Bali, especially in the island’s capital, Denpasar, and Badung, where hotels, restaurants, villas, construction and changing urban lifestyles generate far more waste than in rural districts.
“Five-star hotels already have a system (to manage their waste), but there are more small hotels than four- and five-star hotels,” she said.
“In fact, the worst are villas, many of which are not registered.”
For decades, open dumping and reliance on landfills have been the main ways to manage waste in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
Indonesia banned open landfills in 2013 because hazardous waste disposal in open fields or landfills pollutes soil and water, emits toxic gases, and poses severe public health risks to surrounding communities.
But it is only now attempting to fully implement the measure.
In southern Bali, the Suwung landfill in Denpasar is the main landfill and has already reached capacity.
Shinta said Suwung was initially supposed to be a final disposal site at the end of a proper waste management process that includes sorting.
Instead, it effectively became an open dumping ground for years, accepting mixed waste from Denpasar, Badung and surrounding areas. Bali officials said organic material accounts for around 65 per cent of the island’s waste, creating methane, odour, leachate and fire risks when dumped in bulk.
The government wants to close Suwung permanently as of Aug 1, and only organic waste can be disposed of there in the meantime.
But the transition has been messy, analysts and locals told CNA.
Many residents supported a cleaner Bali, but they had not received clear instructions on how to sort their waste, who would collect it, or what would happen if their neighbourhood did not yet have working composting or recycling facilities.
Tri Sakti Hasibuan, a 27-year-old postgraduate student, said the situation in Bali saddened him.
“Because all parties are washing their hands of the matter. The government says waste should be managed by the people,” he said.
“And then the Suwung landfill was closed, which we, the public, felt was a bit sudden, even though the news had been circulating for months. But without an alternative, what good would it do?”
Bali-based freelancer Erzsa Maharani, 26, shared similar views.
“This waste is clearly a problem because there is no system. The (partial) closure of Suwung (landfill) was both good and bad, as it forced people who had previously been indifferent to waste management to now see it as a problem,” she said.
“It wasn’t the people’s fault, as the government failed to prepare a system. But now everyone’s eyes have been opened to the fact that waste is a problem.”
Waste collectors felt the impact too. Imam Mustakim, 44, said each load rejected by the landfill costs him time, fuel and income.
On Apr 16, truck driver collectors staged a protest outside the governor’s office, eventually forcing the central government to take charge and ease the transition.
Then-Environment Minister Hanif – who was appointed deputy coordinating minister for food affairs on Apr 27 – visited Bali on Apr 17.
He decided that organic waste could enter Suwung twice a week until the new waste-processing facilities are fully operational.
Head of Kediri municipality in southwest Bali, I Made Surya Dharma, said his residents need time to adjust to the new rule, but the residents are trying to minimise problems by consistently educating people about it.
“We tell them how to compost, how to make composters or buy affordable ones. We also have waste banks where people can bring their inorganic waste, such as bottles, every month, creating a circular economy,” he told CNA.
Waste banks are community-based systems where residents take their sorted household solid waste and may receive payment based on the type and weight of the waste material.
The waste bank would then sell the sorted waste to recycling factories and other agencies, according to the University of Maryland policy brief.
By the end of May, in Kuswati’s Jimbaran neighbourhood, residents had begun to get used to sorting waste, and both organic and inorganic waste was being collected more regularly.
JAKARTA: LANDFILL COLLAPSE, POLLUTED RIVER HIGHLIGHT CHALLENGES
Over in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, a deadly landfill collapse in March highlighted its waste management problem.
A garbage avalanche at Bantargebang on Mar 8 killed seven people, including truck drivers, scavengers and food stall sellers, after heavy rain triggered a collapse.
The 110-hectare Bantargebang, in Bekasi city near Jakarta, is the country’s largest landfill. It receives about 7,400 to 8,000 tonnes of Jakarta’s waste every day, while the capital generated 3.17 million tonnes of waste in 2024, according to government data.
The landfill has operated since 1989 and remains Jakarta’s main final disposal site.
In the wake of the collapse, the environment ministry launched a full investigation and vowed to hold responsible parties accountable.
The government now wants Bantargebang to stop accepting mixed waste before it accepts only residual waste – what’s left after reusable, recyclable, compostable and recoverable materials have been separated out – on Aug 1.
As of May 10, the Jakarta government has made it mandatory for people to sort their waste.
The city is also preparing a refuse-derived fuel facility in Rorotan, North Jakarta, as a medium-term solution.
Jakarta’s waste problem is also seen in the Ciliwung river, which flows through the heart of Jakarta.
The waterway has long been choked with household waste, plastic debris and other pollutants.
Besides piles of rubbish clogging waterways and causing regular floods, microplastics have also been found in Jakarta’s rainwater, with Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) reporting that microplastics were detected in every rain sample collected across the capital since 2022.
Muna, who goes by one name and lives just a few metres from the Ciliwung in Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta, said she usually throws her waste into the river because there are few proper bins and collection points.
But Abdurazak, 64, also in Kampung Melayu, said the real problem is attitude.
Even when people know the river is dirty and not a garbage bin, he said, some still throw trash into it because it is convenient.
“We also have waste bank programmes, but they don’t function because people still prefer throwing waste into the river,” said Abdurazak, whose house gets flooded regularly.
The city’s open dumping sites, meanwhile, are both a hazard and source of livelihood for informal waste workers.
Wiwi, who goes by one name, is part of the informal sector that quietly recovers recyclables while living with the health and safety risks.
CNA spotted her at the end of April in Kampung Melayu, sorting through discarded materials under the scorching sun for items she could sell. Wiwi, who is homeless, said she has no other means of earning a living, but risks being taken away by authorities if they catch her napping near disposal sites.
The national government said that Indonesia can no longer treat waste as a local housekeeping issue and is determined to fight the problem.
On a visit to a waste-processing facility in Banyumas, Central Java, on Apr 28, Prabowo said the central government would provide direct assistance to improve such systems.
Banyumas, which has an integrated waste processing facility that turns waste into roof tiles, is being presented as proof that waste can generate economic value rather than simply dumped.
INDONESIA’S WASTE-TO-ENERGY PLANS
The government is also leaning heavily on waste-to-energy programmes.
Former presidential Chief of Staff Muhammad Qodari, who is now head of the government communication agency, said in April that the five waste-to-energy projects that are targeted to break ground in June 2026 could become operational in 2028.
In the long term, the government is preparing such projects in 30 areas across 61 districts and cities, with each site expected to process more than 1,000 tonnes of waste daily.
“The waste-to-energy programme is targeted to reduce landfill waste by around 33,000 tonnes per day (by 2029) or the equivalent of 22.48 per cent of the total national waste,” said Qodari at a press conference in Jakarta on Apr 22.
“In the long term, the existence of a waste-to-energy programme is expected to improve the quality of life of the community, encourage behavioural changes in waste management, and strengthen the role of regions in supporting the transition to a circular economy and sustainable, low-carbon development,” he added.
Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara is expected to help the financing of the projects.
The government said waste can also be treated through other technologies, including refuse-derived fuel, biogas from biodigesters, pyrolysis, modular incineration, and other approaches suited to regional characteristics.
Waste-to-energy projects may help large cities reduce landfill pressures, said experts, but they cannot be Indonesia’s main answer to the waste problem.
The technology works best when waste has a stable quality and relatively low moisture content.
Indonesia’s household waste is often wet and dominated by organic material, which makes incineration less efficient unless the waste is sorted and dried first, said Mahawan from the University of Indonesia and Ibar Akbar, zero waste campaigner at Greenpeace Indonesia.
That means waste-to-energy does not remove the need for sorting; it makes sorting more important.
The Jakarta Post reported in February that Solo’s waste-to-energy plant – commissioned in 2023 – is only operating at 15 to 20 per cent of its processing capacity of 545 tonnes a day due to insufficient sorting of waste at the household level.
The head of a local neighbourhood unit reportedly said the plant’s chimney was too short, causing residents to be affected by the ash from the burning process. Meanwhile, the city’s Putri Cempo landfill has been at overcapacity since 2010 and landfill operators have been dumping trash close to residents’ homes near the landfill.
Mahawan said waste-to-energy can be part of the downstream toolkit, but it should not be treated as a substitute for reducing waste at the source.
“Waste-to-energy programme can indeed be used in a limited way, but importantly, it shouldn’t be the sole solution,” he said.
“It is useful as it reduces waste volume. And on the other hand, it can provide (a source of) energy.”
Shinta of Mahasaraswati University said that some technology will be needed to handle residual waste that cannot be composted, reused, or recycled, especially in dense urban areas.
But she said the technology must match local waste characteristics, financing capacity and environmental safeguards.
“Incinerators nowadays can’t be used carelessly. They have to meet the quality standards set by the government because they emit carbon,” said Shinta.
That’s why most sub-districts in Bali only have small incinerators, she said.
“But actually, the government can provide proper outreach about the specifications of incinerators, the price, and help local governments or communities to buy them,” she added.
Greenpeace Indonesia said waste-to-energy risks becoming an expensive shortcut that distracts from source reduction.
Ibar said it could lead to costly, long-term incinerator contracts, worsen pollution risks, threaten informal workers, and contradict the national strategy of reducing waste at the source.
He said the government should focus on waste sorting by providing bins, collection schedules, neighbourhood-level processing sites, enforcement, public education and markets for compost and recyclables, all of which many parts of Indonesia lack.
“The big money for waste-to-energy projects can be used for waste sorting programmes instead. Sorting is not easy. And Indonesia’s waste problem cannot be solved just by expensive, high technology,” said Ibar.
The country should also tackle single-use packaging, look at separating organics from recyclables and residual waste, processing food and garden waste locally through composting, maggot farms or biodigesters, strengthening waste banks and recycling markets, and making producers responsible for packaging through extended producer responsibility, he added.
It also means treating waste as an economic and industrial policy issue, not only an issue of the environment ministry, he said.
Ibar added that the industry ministry must be involved, especially in policymaking, because manufacturers influence the amount of plastic entering the market.
“Otherwise, the waste problem in Indonesia will become a ticking time bomb.”
Source: CNA/ks(cc)
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