Environment Minister designates 20 priority agglomeration areas for Waste-to-Electricity Processing

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq has designated 20 agglomeration areas across 47 districts and cities as priority investment zones for Waste-to-Electricity Processing (PSEL). Hanif stated that President Prabowo Subianto has requested prioritisation of waste management in urban and agglomeration areas that generate more than 1,000 tons of waste per day for PSEL. This was conveyed during a joint press conference with the Minister of Investment and Downstreaming/Head of BKPM, Rosan Roeslani, at the Danantara Building in Jakarta on Tuesday. “The Ministry of Environment (KLH) has designated 20 agglomerations across 47 districts and cities. Of these 20 agglomerations, four have been completed by Danantara, the remaining 16 are complete, and we will complete the others subsequently,” he said. Hanif explained that these 20 agglomeration areas have met the first-stage requirements and have received an official decree from the KLH. Meanwhile, for cities generating 500–1,000 tons of waste per day, they do not meet the primary requirements of the Presidential Regulation (Perpres) that designates priority PSEL areas with waste generation exceeding 1,000 tons. To date, based on monitoring and evaluation by a joint team, there are seven agglomeration areas across 26 districts and cities generating 500–1,000 tons of waste per day. “The joint team has confirmed their adequacy and compliance with requirements for PSEL development, so the Environment Minister has issued a recommendation letter. Why not a decree? Because under Perpres 109, PSEL may only be used in urban agglomerations generating 1,000 tons or more of waste per day,” he said. He continued that there are still four agglomeration areas across 14 districts and cities in the verification stage that have not yet received recommendations due to incomplete prerequisites. Therefore, Hanif stated that a total of 31 agglomeration areas across 86 districts and cities have been submitted for PSEL investment follow-up. “The Ministry of Environment will continue to oversee the development and on-site management,” he added. Meanwhile, Minister of Investment and Downstreaming/Head of BKPM Rosan Roeslani stated that Danantara and KLH are continuously collaborating to invest in other potential technologies supporting the PSEL programme. “We are open to other technologies, but importantly, we prioritise technologies that have proven to work well in many countries,” Rosan said. Currently, the government is prioritising that PSEL operations run smoothly, quickly, and most importantly, are accepted by the community, particularly in the areas where waste processing takes place.