Bekasi Regency's PSEL Project Claimed to Save Rp125 Billion Annually

The national strategic project for the construction of a Waste-to-Energy Plant (PSEL) in Bekasi Regency, West Java, is claimed to be capable of saving the regional budget up to Rp125 billion annually, while also providing a solution to the area’s waste problem. Head of the Bekasi Regency Environmental Agency, Syafri Donny Sirait, stated that the PSEL, with a capacity of 1,000 tonnes of waste per day, brings a positive impact to the region’s financial condition as it does not impose a tipping fee on the Bekasi Regency Government. “If we use a cooperation scheme with business entities as in several other regions, waste processing costs reach Rp350,000 to Rp500,000 per tonne. With this PSEL, the regional government is not burdened with these costs,” he said in Cikarang on Saturday. He explained that assuming the lowest tariff of Rp350,000 per tonne, processing 1,000 tonnes of waste daily would cost around Rp350 million per day, or Rp125 billion when calculated over a one-year period. According to him, waste processing through the PSEL scheme represents a major leap in efforts to resolve the waste problem in Bekasi Regency via a national strategic project without significantly burdening the regional budget. “This is a blessing for the Bekasi Regency Government and the community because we are getting a modern waste management solution with a much lighter budget burden,” he said. Syafri also expressed pride that Bekasi Regency was selected as one of the recipients of the PSEL project. This success is inseparable from the regional government’s readiness in preparing documents, a waste management roadmap, and land provision as requirements for the facility’s construction. The Burangkeng landfill also meets requirements because it has the water source needed for the waste processing machine’s cooling system. However, the PSEL is only capable of processing 1,000 tonnes of the region’s total daily waste production, which reaches 2,200 to 2,300 tonnes. The regional government is addressing the remaining waste pile through a partnership with a private company, PT Asiana, to process waste into Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) as a coal substitute for the cement industry. Similar to the PSEL, this cooperation also does not impose a tipping fee on the regional government. The company is even leasing government-owned land at the Burangkeng landfill to build the RDF facility. “So besides not incurring processing costs, the regional government also earns revenue from land lease. Currently, Asiana is completing the licensing process; they are targeted to begin operations in September 2026,” he said.