JAKARTA \u2014 Waste4Change founder and chief executive Mohamad Bijaksana\nJunerosano has identified three key waste management challenges that\nneed to be addressed: governance, partnerships and financial\narrangements.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndonesia is facing a waste emergency. Data from the Ministry of\nEnvironment shows that only 25 per cent of waste is managed, while 75\nper cent across the country is unmanaged. So we still have waste being\ndumped indiscriminately in rivers, the sea, vacant land and elsewhere,\u201d\nBijaksana said at the ESG NOW Forum & Awards 2026, organised by\nRepublika at Hotel Borobudur in Jakarta on Monday (19 October 2026).<\/p>\n
He said waste management remained problematic even in the capital,\nJakarta, where hectares of land were still occupied by piles of rubbish.\nThis also raised questions about the situation in the future capital,\nNusantara. The key issue, he said, was governance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not short of technology, solutions or experts. Many people\ncould help solve the waste problem. But we lack one system: governance.\nThe first priority is ensuring that regulations already in place are\nenforced,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia was good at drafting regulations and documents, he said,\nbut often lacked the tactics, strategy and capacity to enforce the law\nin a structured and systematic way.<\/p>\n
The second priority, he said, was clear partnerships between\nstakeholders. Private companies such as Waste4Change were willing to\ninvest in municipalities, but local governments were often unsure how to\naccommodate them. When a private company invests in collection vehicles\nand other equipment, waste fees are often treated as a target for\nlocally generated revenue (PAD), raising concerns that private-sector\nparticipation could affect the government\u2019s revenue target.<\/p>\n
Bijaksana said these conflicts had been raised with the central\ngovernment, with the aim of creating more scope for private\ninvestment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe third, and most crucial, issue is the financial arrangement. Who\nwill fully fund operations across the entire process, from upstream to\ndownstream \u2014 local government budgets, fees, or Extended Producer\nResponsibility (EPR)?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Learning from Indore in India<\/p>\n
Bijaksana said Waste4Change had spent the past two years studying\nIndore, a city in India that has been named the country\u2019s cleanest city\nfor eight consecutive years.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/waste4change-at-esg-now-2026-identifies-three-key-waste-management-challenges-1792425044", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }