Waste sorting at home key to RDF success, says Jakarta councillor

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Jakarta Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) Commission D member Nabilah Aboebakar Alhabsyi has emphasised that the success of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) technology depends not only on processing machinery but also on the readiness of the entire upstream-to-downstream system. “RDF will only be effective if the public sorts waste from their homes. If waste remains mixed, the processing output will not be optimal,” Nabilah said in Jakarta on Friday. She made the remarks during a visit by the DPRD Jakarta Special Committee on Waste Management to the RDF Plant in Rorotan. According to her, RDF still faces various challenges, particularly the substandard quality of incoming waste due to minimal sorting at the source. She assessed that the Jakarta Provincial Government, through the Jakarta Environmental Agency, must strengthen massive education and waste sorting campaigns at the community level. Furthermore, the government must provide adequate supporting facilities, including large-capacity compactor trucks that are enclosed, leak-proof, and capable of maintaining waste quality during transport. “If the government asks the public to sort waste, then the government must also ensure the transport system supports it. The public should not be disciplined in sorting only for the waste to be mixed again in the field,” she said. Beyond technical aspects, Nabilah also highlighted the importance of market certainty for RDF products. She urged the Jakarta Provincial Government not to rely on a single company as the RDF offtaker, but to begin preparing several alternative buyers so that the product is fully absorbed and has economic value. She believes Jakarta’s waste problem cannot be solved with a single approach. Integration is needed between behavioural change in the community, readiness of facilities and infrastructure, processing technology, and market certainty for the processed output. “The solution is to build a complete system. Sort waste from home, strengthen the fleet and supporting facilities, optimise RDF, and ensure the output has a clear market. If one link in this chain fails, Jakarta’s waste reduction target will be difficult to achieve,” Nabilah said.