Indonesia's Waste-to-Energy Project Criticized for Ignoring Root Causes

Indonesia is embarking on a significant waste-to-energy project valued at Rp87 trillion (approximately $5.4 billion), spearheaded by the Daya Anagata Nusantara Investment Management Agency (Danantara). While the initiative promises a profitable solution to the nation's mounting waste crisis, critics argue it sidesteps the fundamental issue: curbing waste generation at its source.

The project is characterized as a "downstream solution," failing to tackle the upstream problem of excessive waste creation. Indonesia currently lacks robust policies, educational frameworks, and ingrained public habits that encourage individuals to minimize waste in their daily lives. Consequently, personal efforts toward zero waste often struggle against an unsupportive environment, leading to a steady increase in per capita waste generation, which has risen from 230 kilograms in 2016 to 250 kilograms this year.

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Reduce, reuse, and recycle remain nothing more than empty slogans as they are not backed by policies that actively encourage these practices.

Landfills are reaching capacity, and the accumulation of trash has even led to dangerous methane gas explosions in some areas, resulting in fatalities. The lack of widespread waste sorting at home hinders the development of recycling industries, which have not taken off due to insufficient supply and a lack of government incentives. Slogans like "reduce, reuse, and recycle" remain largely symbolic without supportive policies.

Instead of investing heavily in waste-to-energy conversion, experts propose reallocating these funds to address the problem at its origin. This could involve providing incentives for household waste sorting and supporting the recycling sector. At a national level, implementing a waste credit mechanism, similar to carbon credits, could encourage waste sorting and its sale to producers. Manufacturers could collaborate with the recycling industry to manage packaging waste, mirroring successful circular economy models adopted by countries like Germany, Japan, the UK, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. Danantara's plan to use rudimentary incineration methods is also being questioned.

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Therefore, rather than spending Rp87 trillion to convert waste into energy, it would be more sensible for the government to use those funds to address the waste problem at its source first.