Organised Waste Management Activities Discovered at 5.8-Hectare Rubbish Mound in Cilincing
JAKARTA — The head of the North Jakarta Environmental Affairs Sub-office (Kasudin), Eddy Mulyanto, has stated that there is organised waste management activity at a location suspected of being an illegal dumping site in Rawa Malang, Cilincing, North Jakarta.
He explained that the activity is being conducted by a group of waste collectors organised within a cooperative.
“At the location in question, there is activity involving organised waste collection undertaken by a group of waste pickers operating as a cooperative,” said Eddy in an official statement on Monday, 9 March 2026.
Based on monitoring conducted by the North Jakarta Environmental Affairs Sub-office, Eddy suspects the location has been used as an illegal dumping site since approximately 2000.
“The area of the waste mound is estimated to reach approximately 5.8 hectares. Currently, the status of land ownership remains disputed (status quo), so there is no certainty regarding administrative land ownership,” he said.
“During the operation, officers discovered two waste transport vehicles belonging to a private company that are suspected of dumping at this location,” he added.
According to him, the municipal government has also undertaken prevention measures, including placing prohibition signage against illegal dumping and installing CCTV surveillance markers at several points around the location.
Nevertheless, Eddy noted that field monitoring continues to face challenges, such as flooding conditions, traffic congestion, changes in dumping schedules, waste transport vehicle routes, and the potential for information leaks.
“In 2025, monitoring was conducted using a small team and often yielded no results because field conditions were not conducive, information was leaked, or there was resistance from the community,” he added.
Video footage captured from an aerial perspective showed the extent of the waste piles covering much of the open land in the area. The footage revealed waste piles predominantly white and black in colour, suspected to consist of plastic waste and other materials such as wood.
Around the site, several patches containing water resembling fish ponds were visible. Some waste appeared to have spilled into one of the water patches, causing the water to turn dark in colour.
The video footage also showed the activity of several people transporting bags of waste from the area into two trucks parked at the location.