Danantara Reveals Reasons Why Majority of WTE Tender Winners Are from China
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Investment Management Agency Daya Anagata Nusantara (BPI Danantara) has revealed the reasons behind the selection of eight companies that won the Waste-to-Energy (WtE) project tenders, most of which originate from China.
Danantara Indonesia’s MD of Stakeholders Management & Communications, Rohan Hafas, stated that the primary reason is China’s societal waste disposal habits closely resemble those in Indonesia.
“Compared to highly advanced countries, our waste disposal methods are somewhat similar to China’s,” he said at Wisma Danantara in Jakarta on Thursday (9/4/2026).
According to him, the characteristics of the waste being processed influence the technology employed. This is because Indonesians dispose of waste without sorting, resulting in mixed refuse.
“So they are well-suited because their waste is similar to ours. It’s abundant, including pillows and bolsters in there, more or less like that,” he explained.
Rohan further disclosed that the technology used by Chinese companies can incinerate all types of waste directly without requiring a sorting process.
“With heat at a certain level, all that wet waste melts and dries right away. Like our laundry dryers, the kind that gets it completely dry,” he elaborated.
On the same occasion, Fadli Rahman, Lead of Waste-to-Energy and Director of Investment at Danantara Investment Management, noted that the incineration results from Chinese technology providers produce cleaner outcomes, with no ash vapours in the air.
“After incineration, there are vapours and ash—bottom ash and fly ash. These are captured, and the ash residues are filtered multiple times, so the exiting air is actually cleaner than, apologies, the air in some of our locations,” he clarified.
The eight winning tender companies, mostly from China, include Chongqing Sanfeng Environment Group Corp., Ltd, Wangneng Environment Co., Ltd, and Zhejiang Weiming Environment Protection Co Ltd. Others are SUS Indonesia Holding Limited, China Conch Venture Holding Limited, and PT Jinjiang Environment Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the remaining two companies are from France—Veolia Environmental Services Asia Pte Ltd—and from Japan—Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Environmental and Chemical Engineering.