Environment Minister Opens Bali Incinerator, Restricted to Wood and Biomass Burning

Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq has reopened operations of an incinerator that had been sealed in Bali, but on condition that its operation is limited to sorted waste under strict supervision.

Hanif stressed that priority should be given to operating an incinerator dedicated to handling wood and biomass. ‘Today I ask that the incinerator be opened specifically for wood handling. Wood, bamboo, organics that are biomass by nature. For biomass I want it resolved because this will affect our destinations,’ he said during a working visit to Jimbaran Beach on Thursday, 5 March 2026.

According to Hanif, modular incinerators are not designed to burn mixed waste because they have unstable temperatures and pose a risk of releasing hazardous substances such as dioxins and furans.

‘Because modular incinerators have unstable temperatures and lack a very proper emissions capture unit. Therefore they should not be used for mixed waste,’ he explained.

He added that the incinerator had been sealed because Bali’s waste-sorting system was not operating optimally. If sorting improves, incinerator use could still be permitted on a limited scale.

Hanif has also asked the Deputy for Enforcement (Gakkum) at the Ministry of Environment to open the seal of the incinerator via an administrative mechanism.

Meanwhile, Badung Regent I Wayan Adi Arnawa welcomed the policy, describing it as a form of flexibility from the central government albeit with tighter conditions.

‘The minister has provided some leeway, but with one condition: waste to be treated using the incinerator must be of the same type. For example, wood to wood, plastics that have been sorted—plastics. But plastics must be washed beforehand,’ he said.

Arnawa said that Badung currently has 12 incinerator units that will be optimised. The regional government will determine which unit is used for each type of waste.

‘I ask the head of department to sort which incinerator is for wood, which for plastics, perhaps. So that our processing in the TPSTs is faster,’ he added.