Surabaya Becomes National Pilot for Programme to Prevent Plastic Waste Entering the Sea

Surabaya is the first location for the “Partnership for Preventing Riverine Plastic Pollution” programme in Indonesia. The programme is a bilateral collaboration between the Indonesian Government, via the Coordinating Ministry for Food, and the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Indonesia to suppress plastic waste pollution in rivers before it reaches the sea. The introduction of the programme was carried out through a soft launch held to coincide with World Environment Day on Friday (5/6). The city was chosen as the first implementation site because it is deemed to have a strong commitment to waste management and environmental pollution control. The programme will focus on controlling river flow to prevent plastic waste from entering the sea, cleaning up waste, strengthening the circular economy, and changing community behaviour. Acting Head of the Surabaya Environment Agency (DLH) M. Fikser thanked the central government for trusting the city as the initial programme implementation location. According to him, programme implementation has been underway on the Tebu and Mrutu rivers, where waste retention systems have been installed to stop plastic waste from being carried out to sea. He explained that the programme shows real results. Every day, around one tonne of plastic waste is lifted from the river flow through collaboration between the Surabaya DLH and the involved non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Ecoton and Lohjinawi. Fikser said the Surabaya City Government is also providing full support for the programme by providing facilities and strengthening education for communities living around activity sites. Mayor Eri Cahyadi has ordered full support for all the needs of these NGOs, so that beyond cleaning up waste, there is education for local residents on protecting the environment. The programme also prioritises a circular economy approach. Collected waste is not immediately discarded but is sorted and reused. This process opens economic opportunities for the surrounding community, who are involved in sorting, packaging, and selling economically valuable waste. The benefits of the programme are felt from an environmental aspect and have a positive impact on the economy of the involved residents. Changes in environmental conditions are starting to be seen, especially in the Tebu River area, which previously had a river full of waste. Now, the river looks cleaner and encourages public awareness to protect the environment. Fikser revealed that the average amount of waste retained in the Tebu River still reaches about one tonne per day. However, the amount is starting to decrease as community awareness increases. He emphasised that the programme’s success is measured by the amount of waste successfully lifted and the reduction of waste disposed of at the source. As part of this effort, the Surabaya City Government runs various community-based waste reduction programmes through Kampung Zero Waste and the Climate Village Programme (ProKlim). The city government targets a 40 per cent reduction in waste generation. Of the roughly 1,800 tonnes of waste produced daily in Surabaya, about 200 tonnes have economic value through processing at TPS 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) facilities, while around 1,000 tonnes enter a scheme for processing into energy through the Benowo Waste-to-Power Plant (PLTSa). The remaining roughly 600 tonnes still ends up in landfill. As a solution, the central government has designated Surabaya as an area for developing a Waste-to-Electricity Processing Facility (PSEL) on 5.8 hectares of land in Sumber Rejo, Pakal District. Meanwhile, the Coordinator of the Community Behaviour Change Working Group at the Ministry of Environment’s Directorate of Waste Reduction and Circular Economy Development, Sri Murwani Nurfadilastuti, stressed that changing community behaviour is the main key to reducing waste pollution.