Waste makes cheap fuel, environment expert says
Waste makes cheap fuel, environment expert says
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta
Regional Representatives Council (DPD) member-elect Sarwono
Kusumaatmadja called on the city administration on Thursday to
formulate a serious plan to resolve the city's garbage problem
using technology so as escape its dependence on neighboring
jurisdictions.
Sarwono, who was a state minister for the environment during
the President Soeharto era, said the administration should
initially process waste into briquettes as this required only
simple technology.
"We can afford the technology. The briquettes can be made from
all kinds of garbage," he said during a seminar on waste held by
Radio 68H.
According to Sarwono, producing briquettes from waste in
Canada had been supported by senior politicians in both the
government and state institutions. They participated in
campaigning for the use of such briquettes as construction
materials.
He urged administration officials to apply the technology and
to use such briquettes for house construction.
"If the campaign is successful, Jakarta will be able to import
garbage from neighboring cities as its own waste will be not
enough to supply the briquette firms," he said.
Jakarta produces around 6,000 tons of waste daily. Since 1986,
the waste has been dumped at the Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi
municipality using sanitary landfill technology.
The dumping has caused environmental damage and health
problems for surrounding residents. They have been demanding the
closure of Bantar Gebang for years.
In late 2001 and 2003, Jakarta experienced a waste crisis when
the Bekasi administration finally bowed to residents' demands and
closed down the dump.
The administration and the City Council agreed to make
allocations out of the city budget for technology-based waste
management in 2002. Some city officials and councillors also
conducted comparative studies in a number of countries.
However, to date the city has only managed to establish a dump
in Bojong, Bogor regency, that uses German bale press technology
with a capacity of 1,500 tons of waste per day. But the dump has
also been strongly opposed by locals who fear they will
experience the same sort of problems as Bantar Gebang residents.
Jakarta has also provided another sanitary landfill dump in
Karawang, West Java.
Amir Sagala, an official responsible for waste management in
the Jakarta Sanitation Agency, said 89 proposals have been
received on technological-based waste management that could use
waste to produce various useful things, including fertilizer,
compost, electricity and briquettes.
Many businessmen, however, withdrew their bids after learning
that the waste the city was offering was made up of numerous
substances that were difficult to convert.
Sarwono, however, said that the use of waste management
technology was only a matter of political will on the part of the
city's leaders.