Government Accelerates Waste-to-Energy Project in East Kalimantan
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq has emphasised the acceleration of preparations for the waste-to-energy (PSEL) project in East Kalimantan as part of the national agenda to improve waste management and meet the 2026 handling targets.
“Today, in line with directives from the State Secretary and the Coordinating Minister for Food, we have been asked to speed up the preparation of locations and administration for the construction of waste-to-energy processing (PSEL). We have now entered the 31st agglomeration,” said Hanif on Friday (10/4/2026).
He explained that the government is accelerating the formation of several waste processing agglomeration areas. In the near future, a cooperation agreement will be signed for the Jambi Raya region, covering Jambi City and Muaro Jambi Regency, followed by Manado Raya with the North Sulawesi Provincial Government.
Meanwhile, for East Kalimantan, the government has discussed two main areas, namely Samarinda Raya and Balikpapan Raya, involving the local regency and city governments.
“We, together with the Governor of East Kalimantan, discussed two agglomerations, namely Samarinda Raya and Balikpapan Raya, involving the regents and mayors,” he said.
Hanif emphasised that all initial project preparations, including location and administrative aspects, are targeted to be completed no later than early next week in accordance with the President’s mandate before entering the goods and services procurement stage.
“The mandate from His Excellency the President to immediately prepare the foundation before the goods and services procurement process is carried out will be completed no later than next Monday,” he said.
The next stage will be handled by the Minister of Investment and Head of Danantara, Rosan Roeslani. Nevertheless, Hanif reminded that the construction to operation of the PSEL facility requires no short time.
“From the goods and services procurement process to operation, the construction of this facility is estimated to take at least three years,” he said.
During that period, local governments are still required to carry out waste management in accordance with the mandate of Law No. 18 of 2008, under the supervision of the governor.
Furthermore, Hanif highlighted the significant gap between current achievements and national targets. Based on the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), the 2026 waste handling target is 63.41%.
“However, to date, based on our online system, the national waste handling achievement is only at 26%,” he said.
He stressed that increasing this achievement can only be achieved through drastic steps, one of which is stopping open dumping practices at all final processing sites (TPA).
“The gap from 26% to 63.41% can only be achieved, among others, by ending open dumping practices at all final processing sites (TPA) in Indonesia,” he said.
The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has set a national target to end open dumping practices no later than 2026, which is a joint responsibility of the central and regional governments.
In addition, the government is also pushing for the acceleration of waste sorting at source as the second strategic step.
“The second target of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry is to encourage waste sorting at source. I hope the governors can directly lead this effort,” said Hanif.
He added that direct involvement of regional heads is deemed important to drive cultural change in society regarding waste management.
With these two main targets—ending open dumping and strengthening waste sorting—the government is optimistic that the acceleration of PSEL development in East Kalimantan can proceed effectively.
“Insyaallah, in East Kalimantan, this can be accelerated well together with the Governor,” said Hanif.
He assured that the PSEL project in the province will be located in Balikpapan and Samarinda, covering several surrounding areas.