Environment Minister States Waste-to-Energy Facility Will Only Accept Quality Waste

Denpasar (ANTARA) - Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq stated that the waste-to-energy (PSEL) technology to be built in Bali will only accept quality waste. “In waste-to-energy (PSEL), it requires only quality waste, which is certainly waste that is not mixed with all elements or not intermingled, thus facilitating handling,” he said in Denpasar, Bali, on Friday. The Environment Minister explained that once the PSEL technology is operational on the Island of the Gods, mixed waste that has been accumulating at the Suwung landfill cannot be used. Hanif acknowledged that waste has not been managed well in all regions, leading to waste emergencies everywhere. Strategic steps need to be taken gradually, from fostering, ending open dumping at landfills, then improving waste quality as is currently underway in Denpasar and Badung. “All countries require a very long time to sort this waste; I am somewhat moved, surprised, and grateful that in less than a month, the government and people of Denpasar and Badung have managed to sort more than 50 percent; this spirit must not be relaxed,” said the Environment Minister. However, the remaining challenge is the incomplete facilities and machines for processing organic waste. Hanif targets that by the end of July 2026, all integrated waste processing site (TPST) and Reduce, Reuse, Recycle waste processing site (TPS3R) facilities in Denpasar and Badung will be completed, so the final disposal site (TPA) Suwung will no longer accept organic waste at all. With waste not mixed, the quality of inorganic waste at the Suwung TPA today will be good for processing into electricity when PSEL operates three years from now. “When PSEL is built three years from now, this waste can be excavated for reuse; if the waste is already mixed, only a little can be reused for waste-to-energy; because it is already sorted, quality waste in the form of fresh waste is already available,” he said. Therefore, he said, sorting waste is the main step to obtain quality waste as the basic material for PSEL.