Government Designates 20 Priority Agglomeration Areas for Waste-to-Electricity Investment

Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq has designated 20 agglomeration areas encompassing 47 regencies and cities as priority zones for investment in Waste-to-Electricity Processing (PSEL) on Tuesday (14/4/2026). This designation responds to President Prabowo Subianto’s instruction to prioritise waste management in urban areas with generation exceeding 1,000 tonnes per day.

This strategic policy was announced during a joint press conference with Investment and Downstreaming Minister Rosan Roeslani at the Danantara Building in Jakarta. Based on compiled data, 16 of these 20 agglomerations have been declared administratively complete, while the remaining four areas are in the process of finalisation by Danantara.

According to Liputan6, Hanif Faisol Nurofiq explained that these 20 agglomeration areas have met the initial qualification stage and hold official decision letters from the ministry. The minimum waste generation threshold of 1,000 tonnes per day serves as the primary requirement under the current Presidential Regulation.

“Meanwhile, for cities with waste generation between 500–1,000 tonnes per day, they do not meet the primary requirements of the Presidential Regulation (Perpres), which sets priority PSEL areas with waste generation exceeding 1,000 tonnes,” stated Hanif, the Environment Minister/Head of BPLH.

A joint team evaluation also identified seven additional agglomeration areas across 26 regencies and cities with waste volumes between 500 and 1,000 tonnes per day. These areas have received recommendation letters but cannot yet be issued decision letters due to the minimum threshold rule in Perpres 109.

Furthermore, there are four agglomeration areas in 14 regencies and cities currently held at the verification stage. Overall, the government has prepared a total of 31 agglomeration areas across 86 regencies and cities for follow-up in the investment scheme for developing eco-friendly energy facilities.

Investment and Downstreaming Minister Rosan Roeslani added that collaboration between Danantara and the Environment Ministry will continue to explore various supporting PSEL technologies. The government has expressed openness to new technological innovations, provided that the systems have proven successful in implementation in various countries and are acceptable to local communities.