Government Accelerates Waste-to-Electricity Processing Projects
Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan stated that the government is accelerating the development of waste-to-energy electricity processing (PSEL) in 30 projects covering dozens of regions. He said this acceleration is a direct instruction from President Prabowo to tackle the waste emergency, especially in areas with accumulations exceeding 1,000 tonnes per day.
“Following the president’s directive, we are accelerating the construction of PSEL to resolve the waste emergency,” said the figure familiarly known as Zulhas, as quoted from Antara on Tuesday, 31 March 2026.
He explained that the PSEL development plan was initially proposed for around 34 locations. It then changed to 33 locations covering 61 districts/cities. However, several of those locations were then merged into service areas, resulting in 30 projects.
According to him, these 30 projects still cover 61 districts/cities because they use a regional merging approach within one project. “We have completed 30 today. But these 30 actually consist of 61 districts/cities; the number is 30 because there are some agglomerations or mergers,” Zulhas said.
He mentioned that the PSEL projects have a processing capacity of around 14.4 million tonnes of waste per year. This amount is equivalent to 22.5% of the total national waste accumulation. Zulhas assessed that the remaining 77.5% of waste will be handled through other approaches, including management in office sectors, markets, schools, and public facilities.
“The 77.5% includes urban areas, industrial zones, villages/sub-districts, besides households. We will complete it in four years. The technology is already available,” he said.
He emphasised that the government already possesses various waste processing technologies, such as refuse-derived fuel (RDF), to composting, which can be applied according to regional needs. “We already have the technology. Whether waste-to-energy, RDF, or compost, actually, as long as we are willing, this waste can be resolved,” Zulhas stated.
Zulkifli Hasan then explained that several projects have entered advanced stages, including those that have gone through the tender process. He mentioned four locations that have entered the tender stage: Greater Denpasar, Bekasi City, Greater Bogor, and Yogyakarta.
In addition, several other projects such as Palembang, South Tangerang, Makassar, Greater Lampung, Greater Semarang, Greater Surabaya, to Medan have been verified and are ready to enter the auction stage. According to him, the government targets the initial phase projects to start operating in 2027, while the others are targeted to be completed by May 2028.
Furthermore, Zulhas emphasised that PSEL development is part of the government’s initial strategy in handling the national waste issue more systematically. With this acceleration, the government hopes that waste management in various regions can run more effectively and support improvements in environmental quality.