Parliament Demands Government Overhaul National Waste Management System
A member of Commission XII of the House of Representatives, Elpisina, has urged the government to completely overhaul national waste management following the collapse of a waste mountain at the Integrated Waste Treatment Facility in Bantargebang, Bekasi, West Java, which killed four people on Sunday, 8 March 2026. Elpisina demanded that the government take immediate action to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.
“This incident is a sign that our waste problem has reached crisis level. The government must act quickly to carry out comprehensive waste management reform,” said the PKB politician in a written statement on Monday, 9 March 2026.
According to her, the traditional waste management pattern of collecting, transporting, and then disposing of waste must be abandoned immediately and replaced with a modern system covering the full supply chain from source to treatment. Extreme dependence on waste accumulation at landfill sites, she said, could eventually become a time bomb endangering public lives.
No matter how large a landfill is, if management remains based on traditional methods, it will eventually reach capacity, she explained. Therefore, Elpisina stated that national waste management reform cannot be delayed any longer given the numerous negative impacts posed by waste accumulation.
She referenced data on national waste volume reaching 25 million tonnes per year based on the National Waste Management Information System. Approximately 63.9 per cent of waste management in Indonesia, according to Elpisina, still uses open dumping systems that risk creating waste mountains prone to landslides and contaminating groundwater through contaminated leachate.
“Beyond endangering human safety, poor waste management threatens public health in areas around landfill sites through groundwater contamination. Large-scale waste accumulation without adequate treatment is no longer relevant and is extremely dangerous,” said Elpisina.
Elpisina also criticised the limited modern waste treatment facilities in regions that are insufficient to handle daily waste volumes that continue to increase. According to her, implementation of Law Number 18 of 2008 on Waste Management remains minimal.
She urged stronger implementation of regulations in the field through coordination between central and local government. Elpisina reminded the nation that it must ensure waste management systems are managed optimally so that public safety and environmental preservation can be achieved simultaneously.
“We need to strengthen waste sorting systems, recycling, and develop advanced waste treatment infrastructure so that landfill burden is drastically reduced,” she said.
The Head of Operations at Jakarta’s Search and Rescue Office, Akhmad Rizkiansyah, said the total number of victims in the Bantargebang waste landslide was 13 people. This consisted of four deaths, five people still being searched for, and four others already found safe.
The Head of Jakarta’s Environmental Agency, Asep Kuswanto, said waste shipments to the affected area have been temporarily suspended. The suspension of waste shipments by the Jakarta Environmental Agency Sub-Office will continue until victim evacuation is completed. According to him, this step was taken to ensure the waste transport system continues to function and to minimise truck queues during the evacuation process.