Indonesia, not Semeru or Jayawajaya, has one other mountain that has caught the eye of the international community. The mountain of garbage situated in Bantar Gebang in the town of Bekasi in West Java province now stands as high as a 16-story constructing and is becoming increasingly disturbing. Some of you could have seen the post of famous Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio posting a photograph of the condition of the Bantar Gebang Integrated Waste Landfill. The phenomenon of this mountain of garbage has even develop into a serious international problem.
The Integrated Landfill, which incorporates 5 waste storage zones with a complete area of 110.3 ha, is a landfill managed by the local governments of Bekasi and Jakarta. Despite this, the responsibility for solving this problem rests not only with local government, but additionally with the central government and corporations. Because, in response to the top of the DKI Jakarta Environmental Protection Agency, corporations also generate a whole lot of plastic waste.
Addressing this issue, Law no. Regulation No. 18 of 2008 on waste management was issued. Waste management on this case is a scientific, comprehensive and sustainable activity, the aim of which is to cut back the quantity of waste and its management. Waste, which is a remnant of human activity, needs to be managed in such a way that it doesn’t have a negative impact on human life, comparable to environmental pollution or health problems. Waste is seen as one among the renewable energy sources, and its disposal may be used for transport and electricity.
Now, there may be a brand new ray of hope within the management of the mountain of garbage in Bantar Gebang. The government’s cooperation with the private sector to unravel this problem is starting to bear fruit in the shape of the development of a waste power plant.
Fighting against time
To solve this problem, innovations are needed to cut back waste. It also requires using appropriate and protected technology for its implementation. In this regard, cooperation has been established between the federal government and corporations to develop the waste power plant, which has been under construction since 2018 and inaugurated yesterday in 2019. The construction of this power plant has develop into a National Strategic Project to beat environmental problems attributable to waste.
PT (Nusa Wijaya Abadi) NWA, in cooperation with the Bekasi Municipality, is using heat combustion cycle boiler (CHCB) technology on this waste-to-energy plant. This technology uses waste or garbage derived fuel (RDF) because the major fuel to provide steam to drive turbines and generators. The use of residual waste or RDF itself is achieved by sorting organic and inorganic waste from the rubbish mountain. Nevertheless, the technology used on the Bantar Gebang waste power plant has been adapted to the sort of waste that typically occurs in Indonesia, i.e. mixed and wet.
This technology can be considered environmentally friendly. The emissions from this waste plant are still below the standard standards set by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, and its performance looks good. There were initial concerns in regards to the emerging pollutants, which didn’t prove effective in practice. This waste power plant has been proven to cut back waste without negatively impacting the environment.
Participation of all parties required
While work is already underway to handle the issue at a later stage within the case of the waste plant, it continues to be essential to handle the issue at an upstream level through community education and enforcement. The community must start reducing waste production to stop waste from increasing. In addition, the community must also start separating waste into 5 parts, namely organic waste, waste that may still be recycled, plastic waste, flamable non-plastic waste and residual waste. Waste segregation is significant since the waste utilized in a waste-to-energy plant is flamable and non-plastic waste.
In this regard, the National Agency for Research and Innovation took part in encouraging society to grasp waste management, from the dimensions of the household, region to city. We hope that by providing training to the community, they may be incorporated into the circular economy.
While the performance of the Bantar Gebang Waste Power Plant may be considered successful, it has not yet been fully optimized. The scale of waste destruction that this waste power plant can do is simply about 100 tons/day, while the waste that enters Bantar Gebang daily is 7,500-7,800 tons/day. The generated electricity amounts to only 700 kW and is then used exclusively for the inner needs of the waste power plant unit. Therefore, it’s essential to construct a bigger scale to acquire higher results. Although it still requires many operational improvements, the presence of this waste power plant gives latest hope for solving Indonesia’s waste mountain in the longer term.
Reference:
Library of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. (2019). Fight to cut back waste.
Astungkoro, Ronggo. (2023). BRIN Researcher: PLTSa Bantargebang continues to be not optimal. Republika.com
Salomon, Parluhutan, Joyce Rares, Very Londa. (2021). Bantargebang waste management in Bekasi city. JAP, vo. 7, no. 105, p. 71
Qodriyatun, Sri Nurhayati. (2021). Waste power plants: between environmental problems and accelerating the event of renewable energy. Aspiration: Journal of Social Problems, vo. 12, no. 1, pp. 64-75
