Government Targets 100 Per Cent Waste Management by 2029 as 340 Landfills Still Practise Open Dumping
CIMAHI — Agus Rusly, Director of Waste Reduction and Circular Economy Development at the Ministry of Environment (KLH), has disclosed that more than 340 landfill sites (TPA) across Indonesia continue to use open dumping despite the practice being prohibited under Law Number 18 of 2008 on Waste Management.
Speaking at the commemoration of National Waste Care Day (HPSN) at the former Leuwigajah landfill in Cimahi, West Java, Agus stated that the President has declared the Gerakan Indonesia ASRI (Beautiful Indonesia Movement) to ensure that 100 per cent of the country's waste is properly managed.
The target is enshrined in Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 109 of 2025 and forms part of the programme outlined in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2025–2029.
However, only 25 per cent of cities and districts in Indonesia currently manage their waste properly, highlighting the considerable gap between ambition and reality.
Agus emphasised that the challenge lies in encouraging waste management at the household level, so that only minimal amounts of waste are sent to landfill sites and that what does arrive is handled through proper sanitary landfill systems rather than open dumping.
He specifically commended the Cimahi city government, which has managed to process up to 50 per cent of the 250 tonnes of waste generated daily within its jurisdiction.
The HPSN commemoration at the former Leuwigajah site carries particular symbolic weight. In 2005, a catastrophic landslide at the Leuwigajah landfill — where a 60-metre-high mound of rubbish collapsed following heavy rain — killed scores of residents in surrounding communities and became a defining moment in Indonesia's waste management discourse.
Speaking at the commemoration of National Waste Care Day (HPSN) at the former Leuwigajah landfill in Cimahi, West Java, Agus stated that the President has declared the Gerakan Indonesia ASRI (Beautiful Indonesia Movement) to ensure that 100 per cent of the country's waste is properly managed.
The target is enshrined in Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 109 of 2025 and forms part of the programme outlined in the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) 2025–2029.
However, only 25 per cent of cities and districts in Indonesia currently manage their waste properly, highlighting the considerable gap between ambition and reality.
Agus emphasised that the challenge lies in encouraging waste management at the household level, so that only minimal amounts of waste are sent to landfill sites and that what does arrive is handled through proper sanitary landfill systems rather than open dumping.
He specifically commended the Cimahi city government, which has managed to process up to 50 per cent of the 250 tonnes of waste generated daily within its jurisdiction.
The HPSN commemoration at the former Leuwigajah site carries particular symbolic weight. In 2005, a catastrophic landslide at the Leuwigajah landfill — where a 60-metre-high mound of rubbish collapsed following heavy rain — killed scores of residents in surrounding communities and became a defining moment in Indonesia's waste management discourse.