Lombok Needs to Overhaul Its Waste Management System
Mataram (ANTARA) – The beautiful and captivating island of Lombok continues to be plagued by waste problems. Mounds of rubbish are scattered from coastal areas such as Gili Trawangan to the highlands of Sembalun, the gateway to trekking Mount Rinjani.
The collect, transport and dispose approach is no longer fit for purpose in addressing thousands of tonnes of waste generated every day, amid a shortage of collection vehicles and inadequate processing facilities.
The largest landfill in West Nusa Tenggara, Kebon Kongok, in West Lombok Regency, is struggling to accommodate the uninterrupted flow of waste from Mataram and West Lombok itself.
On 7 September 2026, Kebon Kongok landfill, which has been operating since 1993, was forced to limit waste collection vehicles to one trip a day because its landfill zone was full.
The restriction on collection vehicle trips has caused rubbish piles in Mataram and West Lombok to grow higher. The cool air is mixed with the foul smell of ammonia gas released as organic matter decomposes.
Lombok needs a comprehensive overhaul of its waste management system, from households, markets and tourist areas to final processing sites, so that rubbish no longer blights the landscape, pollutes the air and spoils the mood.
Without fundamental change from the start to the end of the process, waste will simply be moved from one place to another without being properly dealt with at source.
A waste revolution
During the peak of the dry season, from July to October 2026, fires broke out at the Gunungsari Market temporary waste site in West Lombok on six documented occasions.
The repeated fires show that waste management cannot rely solely on extinguishing blazes after they start. Concrete solutions are needed to address the build-up of rubbish.
The West Lombok Environmental Agency has repeatedly organised clean-up efforts and transported waste from Gunungsari Market to Kebon Kongok landfill, but the problem has not gone away. Waste continues to arrive from all directions, not only from the market but also from residents of other sub-districts.
The recurring fires and continuing accumulation of waste at the Gunungsari Market site present an opportunity to improve the waste management system by making traditional markets the starting point for a waste revolution.
Traditional markets are strategically important for reorganising waste processing because commercial activity produces many types of rubbish, from leftover vegetables, fruit and food to plastic, cardboard and single-use packaging.
Much of the waste from traditional markets still has value if it is sorted and managed properly. Food waste, for example, can be turned into compost, while packaging waste can be recycled for reuse.
If organic waste and packaging are sorted and handled on site, as much as 90 per cent of the waste generated at traditional markets could be dealt with. The remaining 10 per cent of residual waste that cannot be reused would need to be transported and managed safely at a final processing site.
Gunungsari Market’s location in the middle of rice fields and surrounded by plantations makes it an ideal place to use compost produced from market waste.
The government should build partnerships with farmers’ groups, green spaces, environmental communities and businesses so that compost is not merely an outlet for the results of a waste-reduction programme, but is genuinely needed by the agriculture and plantation sectors.