Proper garbage handling can reduce waste by half

Abdul Khalik and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT) is optimistic that Jakarta's garbage could be reduced by half if only residents learned to process household waste properly.

"Public awareness and participation in managing their own waste would reduce the total daily waste by 50 percent, as we see here in Banjarsari," said Sri Bebassari, a senior researcher with the BPPT.

Banjarsari is a pilot project on household waste management, in Cilandak, South Jakarta. The project, which started in 1992 involves 250 families who have been successful in managing their own garbage.

Each family in the community processes its own garbage by separating the items that can be recycled or turned into fertilizer from those which are dumped.

"We have managed to help residents in the area internalize the importance of managing their own garbage. We can produce fertilizer and paper from the garbage," said Harini Bambang Wahono, one of the residents of the community and the initiator of the project.

She said the project was financed by UNESCO and supported by many parties including the BPPT.

"We have established communities like this in several places in Indonesia and Jakarta," said Harini, who has won many awards for her dedication to the environment, such as the national Kalpataru award.

BPPT also initiated another pilot project called Area Scale Waste Handling in Rawasari, Central Jakarta. The project aims to set an example on how to handle garbage at subdistrict level and involves around 1,000 families.

"We can process eight to 10 tons of garbage every day here. We can also produce three tons of fertilizer from the waste to be sold to the public," said Wahyono, another BPPT researcher.

Sri underlined that it would take 10 to 15 years to apply similar projects throughout the capital as it was more difficult to raise public awareness than to apply the technology.

"For the next 15 years, the solution must be directed at establishing an integrated waste-management system. It would cost Rp 1 trillion (US$119 million) to develop an ideal system. But (once developed the system) would last for 25 years," she said.

According to Sri, the Bojong dump in Bogor could only accommodate 1,500 tons of Jakarta's 6,000 tons of daily waste, while the planned Duri Kosambi dump's capacity had not yet been specified.

However, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso admitted that each waste treatment facility at Bojong dump could only process 10 tons of waste per hour during the trial period, which began on Monday.

With two machines operating and one as a backup, only 480 tons of waste were processed daily at the dump.

Sutiyoso argued that the low capacity was related to the trial period. He claimed that the capacity would increase once the machines were fully operational.

"The machines can process up to 2,000 tons of waste per day. We'll bring more waste to the dump... Pak Selamat Limbong (the head of the City Sanitation Agency) said the dump would open early next month," he said.

Sutiyoso also called on those living nearby the dump to support its use. He suggested that the locals had previously been provoked by "other" parties to oppose the dump.

Last month, residents protested the planned dump, saying that it would cause serious environmental damage to their area. The rally ended in a clash between police and residents, leaving three residents injured.

Sutiyoso was also confident that the dump, which will use German technology to process the garbage, was environmentally friendly.

The Bogor regency will receive an annual compensation of Rp 1 billion from Jakarta for the use of its land.

Since 1986, Jakarta had used the Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi, but it closed down the dump earlier this month after a dispute with Bekasi. Currently the capital's garbage is being dumped on swampy land in Cilincing subdistrict and open land in Rorotan subdistrict, both are in North Jakarta.