Environment Minister Targets End of "Open Dumping" Practice by December 2026

Jakarta - Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq has targeted the end of open dumping practices, or the disposal of waste openly on land without environmental treatment, by December 2026. “In 2026, all open dumping practices at final processing sites (TPA) must end. Currently, around 69-70% of TPAs still use open dumping. By 2025, we will have ended 30% or 172 TPAs, leaving about 112 TPAs, with the target to complete them by August 2026, at the latest December 2026,” he said in Jakarta on Tuesday. In addition, Hanif emphasised that gradually no organic waste should be brought to TPAs and must be processed starting from the household level. “We have tried this at TPA Suwung in Bali and succeeded in significantly reducing organic waste. The facilities are still under construction and will be completed by the end of June, so from July onwards, no more organic waste will enter TPA Suwung. The city of Denpasar and Badung Regency have already managed more than 70% of organic waste at the upstream level,” Hanif stated. He also instructed DKI Jakarta to do the same, where TPA Bantargebang in Bekasi, West Java, is targeted to close no later than 2027. “Starting in 2026, the reduction of organic waste to Bantargebang must be implemented,” he added. Hanif further explained that for Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) technology, which processes waste by converting high-calorific dry waste into alternative fuel—where plastics, paper, and textiles are sorted, shredded, and dried to make them easy to burn—high-quality waste is required. “If the waste is mixed, the costs are very high. For example, shredder blades can break if they encounter glass, so waste sorting is mandatory, including for waste-to-energy. The contract has been signed and will take about three years to become operational,” he elaborated. “During that period, waste must be designed to be of quality, meaning no organic waste is brought, only non-organic waste is stockpiled or turned into RDF. This step is towards zero waste by 2029,” Hanif concluded.