BRIN Reveals Affordable Technology to Convert Waste into Solar Fuel
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Head of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Arif Satria, has revealed the readiness of domestic technology for waste processing. Waste accumulation has become a serious problem in various regions.
“BRIN provides four levels of waste technology, from household, village, sub-district, to urban levels,” said Arif, after the signing ceremony of the agreement between local governments and Danantara to accelerate the development of Waste-to-Electricity Processing (PSEL), on Monday (11/5/2026).
Arif explained that at the household level, BRIN already has the Lahsamor Komposter technology. The device, priced at Rp1 million per unit, processes organic waste using a rotary system to produce compost.
There is also the Faspol Pyrolysis method, which converts low-value plastic waste into solar fuel.
“This can process plastic waste into fuel for fishermen. And I have tried it. Now many fishermen are using it,” said Arif.
According to him, the solar fuel produced from this processing has been proven effective and has received standardisation from LEMIGAS. This solar fuel can also be priced at Rp10,000 per litre.
The former Rector of IPB also explained that BRIN has Waste-to-Electricity Processing (PSEL) technology with a capacity of 50 tonnes per day. Currently, it is in the expansion phase to process up to 100 tonnes of waste per day.
According to him, although it has not yet reached the processing capacity of 1,000 tonnes per day, the technology owned by BRIN can be applied in several regions where waste production is not as large as in cities.
“The government wants 1,000 tonnes per day, now it’s 50 tonnes per day, we want to try to expand it to 100 tonnes per day. There are small regions that are not too large actually,” he explained.
It is known that Indonesia is currently experiencing a condition known as the “Waste Emergency”. Piles of waste are visible at Final Disposal Sites such as Bantar Gebang, Cipecang, Burangkeng, and others. Even a disaster occurred a few months ago when a waste landslide happened at Bantar Gebang.